India's domestic air traffic in July rose 24.7% compared to the same month last year as the domestic airlines carried 1.21 crore passengers in July, revealed the data released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
However, domestic air traffic in July fell 3.1% compared to June when airlines carried 1.24 crore passengers. Air traffic has fallen for the second straight month in a row after it fell 5.5% in June compared to May when airlines carried 1.32 crore passengers.
Air traffic has returned to pre-Covid levels in India. In July 2019, domestic airlines carried 1.19 crore passengers. July marks the fifth straight month when domestic air traffic in India has surpassed pre-COVID levels in India.
The market share of India's largest airline, IndiGo, rose 20 basis points in July, recording the third straight month of rise in market share after the collapse of GoFirst, which stopped all operations on May 2.
Air India retained its position as the second-largest domestic carrier in July and garnered a market share of 9.9%, flying 11.98 lakh passengers during the period.
The Tata-Group airline saw its market share rise for three consecutive months in a row in May, June and July mainly due to the grounding of Go First.
AirAsia India, which, is also part of the Tata stable, maintained its fourth spot in terms of market share. AirAsia India had become the fourth largest player in terms of market share in March and has maintained the position ever since.
The new entrant Akasa Air overtook SpiceJet in terms of market share in June and widened the gap between itself and SpiceJet in July.
Akasa Air carried 6.24 lakh passengers in July garnering a market share of 5.2% while SpiceJet saw its market share fall another 20 basis points in July, as it continues to struggle with its operating capacity due to financial constraints.
The passenger load factor, or the occupancy rate, of SpiceJet, Vistara, IndiGo, Air India and AirAsia India stood at 88%, 87 %, 83.7 %, 84.2 %, and 82.3 %, respectively, in July.
In July, IndiGo had the best on-time performance, jumping ahead of Vistara who had taken over the pole position in June. IndiGo recorded an on-time performance of 86.8% at four metro airports — Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai in July.
Vistara and Air Asia were the second and third followed by Akasa Air.