Domestic air traffic grows 21.4% in March, IndiGo widens market share

The total passenger footfall on domestic flights during the month was recorded at 12.89 million.

Domestic air passenger traffic climbed by 21.4 percent year-on-year in March 2023, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The total passenger footfall on domestic flights during the month was recorded at 12.89 million, as compared to 10.62 million in the year-ago period. For the quarter ending March 31, the passenger traffic jumped by a massive 51.7 percent compared to the previous year.

"Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January - March 2023 were 375.04 lakh (37.5 million) as against 247.23 lakh (24.7 million) during the corresponding period of the previous year thereby registering an annual growth of 51.70 percent," the DGCA said on April 18.

Also Read | Domestic passenger traffic jumps 74% YoY in February, says DGCA

IndiGo, which is the country's largest carrier in terms of market share, strengthened its hold during the month. The airline's market share in March increased to 56.8 percent, as against 55.9 percent in the preceding month.

SpiceJet's share in the domestic market declined to 6.4 percent, as compared to 7.1 percent in February. Air India's share also dropped marginally to 8.8 percent, as against 8.9 percent in the previous month.

Vistara's domestic market share increased from 8.7 percent in February to 8.9 percent in March, whereas, Go First recorded a drop from 8 percent to 6.9 percent.

The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines in March stood at 0.28 percent, the DGCA said, adding that Fly Big accounted for most of the cancellations at 4.48 percent, followed by Indiaone Air at 1.55 percent.

A total of 347 passenger-related complaints had been received by the scheduled domestic airlines, with IndiaOne Air accounting for the highest, 5.6 percent, of the overall complaints during the month.