Domestic passenger traffic rises 20% in May

Buoyed by the summer holiday season and the continuing rise in the Indian economy, domestic passenger traffic rose by almost 20% to 3.93 million in May from 3.315 million passengers in April.

There was no significant change in the market shares of the various airlines, but the low cost carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet, Go Air and JetLite have continued increasing their share at the expense of the legacy carriers, especially Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines. Go Air has shown good growth with the induction of its new Airbus A320 VT-WAJ, and niche carrier Paramount Airways has expanded its flights to Kolkata.


Passenger load factors (Revenue Passenger Kilometres as a percentage of Available Seat Kilometres) are still soft on the three legacy carriers.


For the first time the Ministry of Civil Aviation has released figures for on time departure performance. A flight is considered on time if it departs within 15 minutes of its schedule.

Paramount Airways, IndiGo and Jet Airways lead the charts. Despite competitive fares the effects of Jet Airway’s low cost subsidiary JetLite’s low punctuality reflects in its poor load factors evidenced in the chart above.

About Devesh Agarwal

A electronics and automotive product management, marketing and branding expert, he was awarded a silver medal at the Lockheed Martin innovation competition 2010. He is ranked 6th on Mashable's list of aviation pros on Twitter and in addition to Bangalore Aviation, he has contributed to leading publications like Aviation Week, Conde Nast Traveller India, The Economic Times, and The Mint (a Wall Street Journal content partner). He remains a frequent flier and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Indian aviation industry without fear or favour.

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