Domestic airlines carried 8 per cent lesser passengers in November this year against last year. Incidentally, the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines during 2012 has been declining since June this year, compared with the same period last year.
The latest data, released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, shows domestic airlines carried 50.20 lakh passengers in November this year compared with 54.14 lakh passengers last year.
November saw the industry reduce the number of flights operated and seats offered by close to 6 per cent, while passenger demand shrunk by over 7 per cent. The data shows that the industry has been cutting capacity and demand for air travel in the domestic market has been shrinking since May this year.
On a stand-alone basis, in November this year, Delhi-based low-cost airline IndiGo flew most passengers (13.69 lakh), followed by Air India (10.38 lakh), SpiceJet (9.78 lakh), Jet Airways (9.17 lakh), Go Air (3.73 lakh) and JetLite (3.45 lakh).
The industry paid Rs 37.54 lakh as compensation to 1,142 passengers who were denied boarding by various airlines. In addition, Rs 34.66 lakh was paid to 14,864 passengers as compensation for cancellation of flights, while Rs 25.03 lakh was paid to 63,640 passengers for flight delays.
The data shows that during January-November this year, the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines declined by almost 3 per cent at 5.34 crore passengers during against 5.5 crore flown during the same period last year.