Domestic air traffic surges by 51.7% in January-March quarter

The number of passengers travelling by air within the country surged to 3.75 crore in January-March 2023 quarter, registering an increase of 51.7 per cent year-on-year, as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data released on Wednesday.

The domestic air traffic volumes during January-March period was the second highest quarterly performance. It fell just short of the best-ever quarterly number of 3.81 crore recorded in October-December 2019 period.

The country’s largest carrier IndiGo further consolidated its position despite multiple challenges faced, including the shortage of planes due to grounding.

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IndiGo controls more than half of India’s domestic air traffic. The second largest doesn’t control even 10 per cent share.

In the fourth quarter of 2022-23, IndiGo’s share in India’s domestic air traffic stood at 55.7 per cent. The airline carried 73.17 lakh passengers in March, the best ever monthly performance. IndiGo became the first Indian airline to cross the 70 lakh passenger mark in a month.

Air India slipped to the third position in March from the second position in the previous few months. Vistara has climbed to the second spot. The market share of three Tata group airlines – Air India, Vistara and AirAsia – collectively stood at 25.1 per cent in the quarter ended March.

As per the latest DGCA data, IndiGo, Vistara, and Air Asia have shown an increase in their market share in March 2023 vis-à-vis March 2019 whereas Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir have witnessed a decline.