Indian air traffic up 52% in Dec

The domestic air traffic grew 52 per cent on a yearly basis and five per cent on a sequential basis in December.

Domestic air passenger traffic grew by 5-6 per cent to 111 lakh in December 2021, compared to 105 lakh in November 2021. Compared to 73 lakh in December 2020, the traffic growth stood at 52 per cent, as per the data from ICRA.

In terms of capacity, there was a 35 per cent growth in December 2021 at 86,465 departures against 64,002 departures in December 2020. On a sequential basis, the number

of departures in December 2021 was higher by seven per cent.

The average daily departures were at 2,800 against 2,065 in December 2020 and 2,700 in November 2021. The average number of passengers per flight during December 2021 was close to 129, which was largely flat compared to November 2021.

“Though sequential recovery continued in December 2021, largely driven by leisure travel, boosted by calendar yearend festive and holiday travel, demand continues to remain subdued from the corporate traveller segment, as reflected by the passenger traffic for 9M FY2022 remaining 44 per cent lower than 9M FY2020,” said Suprio Banerjee, Vice President & Sector Head, ICRA.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has allowed the restoration of permitted capacity to 100 per cent for domestic operations from mid-October. The capacity was permitted at 50 per cent from June, 2021 and was subsequently increased to 72.5 per cent from August and 85 per cent from September. International operations have remained suspended since the start of the pandemic.

“With the emergence of the new Covid variant and the recent trend of rising infections, a few states have already started announcing certain curbs on domestic air travel, posing a serious threat to domestic passenger traffic recovery in the near term,” said Banerjee.

● THE AVERAGE daily departures were at 2,800 against 2,065 in December 2020 and 2,700 in November 2021.

● THE AVERAGE number of passengers per flight during December 2021 was close to 129, which was largely flat compared to November 2021.