Air pax traffic hits a new high on April 30
New Delhi: Domestic air passenger traffic hit a new high since the start of the covid pandemic with daily passenger departures of 456,082 on April 30, government data showed. The previous peak was on February 26 with 455,605 air passengers. In 2019, daily air passenger traffic amounted to nearly 400,000 air passengers and 2,900 departing flights.
“Domestic passenger numbers in India hit a new post-covid high on April 30. The number of domestic passengers hitting a new high is indicative of India’s strong growth and prosperity,” Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted in Hindi on Monday.
The average number of domestic passengers per day in India increased in February from 410,000 in December to about 420,000. The average daily passengers in January and February were also higher than in the festival months of October and November, when 370,000 and 390,000 respectively.
Domestic airlines carried a record 13 million passengers in March, an increase of more than 11% compared to the corresponding month of 2018 and 2019, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
For FY2023, total airline capacity utilization was 38% higher than for FY2022, according to rating agency ICRA Ltd in a recent report.
Airline capacity utilization in March 2023 was almost 14% higher than in March 2022 and about 7% higher than the pre-Covid level of March 2019.
“Despite a healthy recovery in passenger traffic, the domestic airline industry continues to face challenges due to increased ATF prices and depreciation of INR against the US$, both of which have a major impact on the airlines’ cost structure. the airlines to ensure fare increases are commensurate with their increase in input costs will be critical to increasing their profitability margins,” said Suprio Banerjee, Vice President & Sector Head – Corporate Ratings, ICRA Limited.