Domestic air passenger traffic fell to 1.0512 crore in June 2022, marking a fall of 12.5 percent as compared to the preceding month, according to data shared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on July 22.
While air traffic has inched closer to the pre-pandemic level, the sequential fall in passengers in June was mainly due to the seasonality factor as summer vacations in India usually end in May.
Rising prices of aviation turbine fuel and price hikes taken by domestic airlines in India have also hit passengers willingness to travel, coupled with a number of safety-related incidents that have been reported in the aviation industry through the past few months.
In the past month, IndiGo's passenger load factor fell 78.6 percent, as against 81 percent in May. SpiceJet's passenger load factor fell to 84.1 percent from 89.1 percent during the period.
IndiGo continued to maintain its leadership position with more than half of the market share. The airline's market share marginally rose to 56.9 percent last month as compared 55.6 percent in May.
SpiceJet's market share during June fell to 9.5 percent from 10 percent in the preceding month. GoFirst saw its market share fall to 9.5 percent in June from 11.1 percent in May, while Vistara saw its market share jumped to 9.4 percent in June from 8.6 percent in May.
According to the DGCA, AirAsia was the most punctual airline last month, with 89.8 percent 'on-time performance'. Vistara stood second on the list, with 86.4 percent of its flights functioning as per the schedule.
Rating agency ICRA in its recent report said that Jet fuel prices, which comprise 35-40 percent of the operating cost of an airline, have surged by about 120 percent year-on-year in mid-June and remain a serious threat to airline’s earnings.
ICRA further highlighted that recent depreciation of the rupee has further added to the industry woes, with around 35-50% of the airlines’ operating expenses being denominated in US dollars.
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