Domestic air traffic falls 43% to 64.08 lakh passengers in Jan: DGCA

The domestic air traffic for the month of January fell around 43 per cent to 64.08 lakh passengers as compared to 1.20 crore who travelled in December, Indian aviation regulator said on Friday.

The passenger load factors -- which means occupancy rates -- fell for all Indian carriers in January as compared to December, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated in its monthly statement.

The load factors of SpiceJet, IndiGo, Vistara, Go First, Air India and AirAsia India were 73.4 per cent, 66.6 per cent, 61.6 per cent, 66.7 per cent, 60.6 per cent and 60.5 per cent, respectively, in January 2022, it mentioned.

However, in December 2021, the occupancy rates of these carriers had been 80.2 per cent, 78.1 per cent, 79 per cent, 78.2 per cent and 74.2 per cent, respectively, it added.

The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent suspension of flights and capping fares by the government from time to time.

IndiGo -- India's largest carrier -- carried 35.57 lakh passengers in January, a 55.5 per cent share of the domestic market, the DGCA said.

SpiceJet flew 6.8 lakh passengers and Air India flew 6.56 lakh passengers in January, according to the data shared by the DGCA.

Go First, Vistara, AirAsia India and Alliance Air carried 6.35 lakh, 4.79 lakh, 2.95 lakh, 0.80 lakh passengers, respectively, in January, the data showed.

The DGCA data mentioned that in January, Go First had the best on-time performance of 94.5 per cent at four metro airports - Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

IndiGo and Vistara were at the second and third positions at these four airports in January with 93.9 per cent and 93.6 per cent on-time performance respectively, the DGCA said.