More airline seats than passengers were available in May. This is the first time that the demand for airline seats in the domestic market has turned negative in the last 13 months. Ironically, May is considered the peak season for domestic airlines.
According to data posted by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), demand dipped below zero in May compared to 14.9 per cent growth during the same period last year.
Interestingly, this trend did not affect capacity addition by airlines. In fact, it was the highest since February. The growth in capacity addition during May was 5.8 per cent in comparison to 15.8 per cent in May 2011.
Overall, domestic scheduled airlines carried nearly 54.5 lakh passengers during May, down nearly one per cent from May 2011.
However, the growth in the number of passengers flown during the first five months of the calendar year is still positive. The number rose to over 2.58 crore, up 5.3 per cent over the corresponding previous period. The good news is that the passenger load factor (passengers flown versus seats available) is still over 70 per cent. IndiGo, SpiceJet, JetLite and Air India showed an increase in the load factor in May while Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Go registered a decline compared to May last year.
There is no change in the market share. The Jet Airways-JetLite combine is still the market leader with nearly 28 per cent share while IndiGo came in at No 2 with approximately 25 per cent. SpiceJet is at number three with Kingfisher at the bottom.
IndiGo led the pack in terms of on-time performance at the six metros with over 91 per cent flights departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. All other airlines, except Air India, have shown 80 per cent on-time performance.
Air India had the highest cancellations in the domestic sector although pilots operating international flights were on an agitation that affected flights to Europe, America, Canada and the Far East.
IndiGo reported the least number of cancellations.