Passengers ignore boarding call

New Delhi: Peak travel season and a drop in air fares have failed to stem a decline in the growth of the domestic air travel industry for the
eleventh straight month, with full-service carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines taking the biggest hit. April alone saw a 15% dip in the number of passengers flown by Indian carriers, according to data released by the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
While passenger numbers for Delhi-based low-cost airline IndiGo grew marginally in April, they declined marginally for close rival SpiceJet. Government-owned Air India managed to hold on to its previous year’s number, thanks to a sharp cut in fares. DGCA data show that domestic carriers flew 3.31 million passengers in April as against 3.89 million in the corresponding month last year.
Seat factor or average passengers per available seat kilometre of all carriers, except IndiGo and Paramount Airlines, fell in April.
Consultancy KPMG’s head of transport advisory services Raajeev Batra, however, is hopeful that full-service carriers would get back passengers once the economy turns around. But the market share of low-cost airlines would continue to grow simultaneously, he added.
Jet Airways, which already operates JetLite — formerly Air Sahara — last week started a new budget service called Jet Airways Konnect. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher is also pushing at least 25 flights on to Kingfisher Red, its low-cost service.
14/05/09 Economic Times

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General May 2009