October 24, 2018 / 13:18 IST
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IndiGo has continued to eat into its peers' market share, increasing its own pie to 42.4 percent at the end September from 40.7 percent at the end of the June quarter.
The data was made available by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
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On the other hand, all other airlines, including Jet Airways and SpiceJet, saw their market share shrinking in the quarter gone by.
Jet Airways' share was down to 13.8 percent from 13.9 percent at the end of June, and that of SpiceJet fell to 12.3 percent to 12.2 percent.
Ajay Singh-promoted SpiceJet, however, recorded the highest passenger load factor, which is a measure of average occupancy on flights.
"SpiceJet has yet again flown with the industry’s highest load factor of 93.2 percent making September the 42nd month on the trot that we have recorded the highest occupancy in India," a company spokesperson said.
Overall, the aviation market continued to grow. "Passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Sept 2018 were 1027.93 lakh as against 849.94 lakh during the corresponding period of previous year, thereby registering a growth of 20.94 percent," the DGCA said in its monthly report on the sector. But the healthy growth doesn't mask the tumultuous times these airlines have been going through. Each of them is facing a liquidity crunch, with Jet Airways being forced to pay its pilots' salaries in phases. Media reports have also pointed out that the airline has grounded planes and trimmed its staff. Even the country's largest airline IndiGo, which had managed to keep itself financially healthy, is expected to
report losses in its second quarter results that will be announced late on Wednesday. Bank facilities of SpiceJet and IndiGo were downgraded by rating agencies. In fact, SpiceJet was
forced to ask one of its lessors for payment relief for a lease in September. In its report on SpiceJet, CRISIL said the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has gone up by 10 percent in three months. Fuel costs account for up to 40 percent of the total operating cost of the airline. The rupee too depreciated by 7.9 percent over the period under review. CRISIL said that around 35-40 percent of the costs of airlines (lease and maintenance) are dollar-denominated.
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Prince Mathews Thomas heads the corporate bureau of Moneycontrol. He has been covering the business world for 16 years, having worked in The Hindu Business Line, Forbes India, Dow Jones Newswires, The Economic Times, Business Standard and The Week. A Chevening scholar, Prince has also authored The Consolidators, a book on second generation entrepreneurs.
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