Domestic air passenger traffic jumped by nearly 26 percent in July, registering double-digit growth for the 24th consecutive month with lower fares attracting more fliers.
No-frills carrier IndiGo saw its market share climb to 39.8 percent -- the highest for any local airline -- last month. It had a market share of 37.9 percent in June.
Latest data from aviation regulator DGCA showed that local airlines flew 85.08 lakh passengers in July compared to 67.62 lakh fliers recorded in the year-ago period.
This is the 24th straight month that domestic air traffic has registered high double-digit growth, which also comes against the backdrop of many airlines offering lower fares as they compete to attract more passengers.
"Indian aviation continues to soar. July passenger growth reaches a record breaking 25 percent," Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said in a tweet.
In terms of market share in July, IndiGo is followed by Jet Airways (16.3 percent), Air India (14.8 percent), SpiceJet (11.7 percent), GoAir (8.4 percent), Vistara (2.6 percent) and AirAsia (2.2 percent).
When it comes to load factor -- a measure of seat occupancy in flights -- low-cost carrier SpiceJet emerged on top with 92 percent in July. The same stood at 93 percent in June.
During July, IndiGo's load factor stood at 83.6 percent, higher than 77.9 percent seen in the previous month.
Among other airlines, GoAir registered a load factor of 90.3 percent, followed by Air Asia with 85.7 percent while that of Jet Airways and Vistara were 83.8 percent and 75.2 percent, respectively.
National carrier Air India registered a lower load factor of 80.3 percent in July compared to 82 percent in June.
Scheduled domestic airlines shelled out compensation to the tune of Rs 35.56 lakh for denied boarding to passengers last month.
For cancellations, the carriers gave a total compensation of Rs 23.22 lakh while the overall amount for flight delays, a total amount of Rs 61.33 lakh was given "towards compensation and facilities".
According to DGCA, 1,111 passengers were affected by denied boarding, 4,796 people by cancellations and delays impacted 65,953 passengers.
Last month, as many as 948 passenger-related complaints were received by the scheduled domestic airlines with maximum number coming against Air Pegasus -- which saw disruptions in its operations amid financial woes.
As much as 34.2 percent complaints were related to flight problems, followed by customer service (27.4 percent) and baggage (17.5 percent).
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