NEW DELHI:
Domestic air travel
not only recovered to pre-Covid levels but also crossed that last year. January-December 2023 saw
15.2 crore
domestic air travellers – the
highest ever
annual figure recorded in India – according to
DGCA data
issued Monday. In pre-Covid calendar year 2019, this number was 14.4 crore.
After crashing to 6.3 crore in 2020, which had seen a two-month suspension of regular flights during the national lockdown, domestic air travel showed smart recovery to 8.4 crore in 2021 and then reached 12.3 crore in 2022. Last year saw more people flying within the country than ever before.
IndiGo’s market share in CY 2023 was 60.5%. The combined domestic share of the three Tata group airlines – Air India (9.7%), Vistara (9.1%) and AIX Connect (7.2%) – was 26%. SpiceJet and Akasa’s market share was 5.5% and 4.1%, respectively. Other airlines accounted for the remaining 3.9%.
Foggy December saw the on time performance of airlines fall sharply, ranging from upcoming Akasa’s 72.7% for its domestic flights to Vistara’s 70.8%, IndiGo’s 68%, AIX Connect 65.7% and AI 52.4%. Among big airlines, SpiceJet’s OTP was the lowest last month at just 29.9%
DGCA data shows over 3.6 lakh domestic passengers faced flight delays last month and airlines spent over Rs 5.4 crore on their “facilitation.” December 2023 had seen 1.4 crore domestic flyers, the highest ever monthly figure.
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