Domestic airlines flew 90.45 lakh passengers in March this year registering a growth of 18.6 per cent over the 78.72 lakh passengers flown in March 2016.
The latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation show that IndiGo carried the maximum number of passengers during the month at 36.11 lakh, followed by Jet Airways (13.97 lakh) with SpiceJet at the number three spot with 11.93 lakh passengers.
Air India flew 11.80 lakh passengers while GoAir carried 8.02 lakh, Vistara 2.92 lakh and AirAsia 2.83 lakh passengers during March this year.
SpiceJet, however, reported the highest passenger load factor of 91.4 per cent followed by AirAsia (87.8 per cent), GoAir (84.8 per cent) and then Vistara (82.2 per cent). Passenger load factor shows how many of the total seats on offer by each airline are getting filled.
IndiGo reported the highest On Time Performance at 88 per cent followed by SpiceJet at 85.7 per cent, Vistara at (85.1 per cent) and GoAir (81.8 per cent) at the four metro airports in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. During March, the industry paid over ₹1.6 crore as compensation to over 69,000 passengers affected by cancellations or if they were denied boarding. This includes paying over ₹61 lakh for providing facilities and compensation to the over 56,000 passengers affected by delays.
Commenting on the DGCA data, Sharat Dhall, Chief Opperating Officer, Yatra.com, said that the rise in passengers flown by domestic airlines was primarily due to the continuous capacity expansion by the airlines on popular routes, addition of new sectors and slightly lower fares.
“With most airlines increasing their number of flights for the summer schedule and the expected roll out of the government’s Udan scheme, we are sure to see a further growth in the coming months,” Sharat added.