Domestic air traffic growth slows to 12.4% in July
Low capacity addition, grounding of IndiGo planes, and seasonality cited as reasons
Domestic air traffic rose 12.4 per cent in July, the slowest in 2017 on the back of slower capacity addition and grounding of planes by IndiGo, the largest domestic airline.
Carriers flew 9.5 million passengers last month as against 8.5 million passengers in the same month last year.
IndiGo leads the domestic market, with 38.7 share, which declined 1.3 percentage points over June due to limited capacity addition and flight cancellations last month.
On average, IndiGo has been inducting two to three planes each month but last month it added only one A320 aircraft. Also, the carrier has been forced to ground 12 planes. These include eight Airbus A320Neo planes, grounded since last month due to issues related to engines. Four A320Ceo planes are grounded as their engines are stuck at Customs. Capacity addition by other airlines, too, is said to be limited.
IndiGo has been forced to curtail its schedule and the airline will be operating 80 fewer flights per day till September as a result of the grounding.
“Our schedule was planned in June itself pertaining to non-availability of these aircraft for July, August and September. The affected passengers have already been accommodated with suitable options,” IndiGo said in a statement.
“Four of IndiGo's A320Ceo aircraft are grounded due to the engines being stuck at Customs. We are awaiting certain clarifications after the implementation of GST (goods and services tax), which has led to unplanned flight cancellations,” the airline added.
IndiGo has a fleet of 135 planes and operates over 930 flights daily.
Air traffic grew 25 per cent in January but growth slowed down in subsequent months. In fact, growth has been sub20 per cent since January. On an year-to-date basis, traffic rose 17 per cent.
“Last month, airlines flew over one million more passengers than July 2016. This is still significant considering July is a lean month. Schools reopen in Delhi and north India in early July and we see a dip in leisure travel in the month. The growth momentum remains strong and we see a good growth in August with long weekends,” said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer of B2C (business to consumer), Yatra.com.
SpiceJet recorded load factor of 94.4 per cent followed by AirAsia and Vistara, which had occupancies of 88 and 84 per cent, respectively.
“This is the 28th month in a row that SpiceJet has flown with load factors in excess of 90 per cent, a feat unparalleled in global aviation history, which firmly establishes our standing as the country’s favourite airline,” said Shilpa Bhatia, senior vice-president, commercial, SpiceJet.