Domestic airlines flew 67.60 lakh passengers in August this year, an 18.66 per cent increase over the 56.97 lakh passengers carried in the same month last year, data released by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation show. Delhi based low-cost airline IndiGo maintained its leadership position, flying 23.85 lakh passengers in the month, followed by Jet Airways (13.39 lakh) and Air India (11.25 lakh). SpiceJet (8.30 lakh), GoAir (5.49 lakh), AirAsia (1.34 lakh), and Vistara (99,000), the newly started joint venture airline between Tata Sons and Singapore Airline.
SpiceJet, a low-cost airline, reported the highest passenger load factor of 92.1 per cent, followed by Jet Airways (80.8 per cent), Air India (79.3), JetLite (78.7), and IndiGo (76.8). The passenger load factor shows how many of the total seats on offer by each airline get filled.
In August, the domestic airline industry paid ₹43.7 lakh towards compensation and facilities to 37,800 passengers affected by flight delays, while another ₹28.47 lakh was paid to 849 passengers who were denied boarding.
Indian law stipulates that airlines pay compensation, starting from ₹2,000 and going up to ₹4,000, for flights which are delayed or cancelled.