Signs of air travel recovery in India

Domestic air passenger numbers in India rose by 5.7 per cent year-on-year in June to 3.7 million, leading to speculation that recovery is around the corner, new research from Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa) shows.
Based on figures from the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Capa report said the market, which contracted for 12 consecutive months from June 2008, might finally be on the road to recovery. Traffic bottomed out in November 2008 when passenger numbers slumped 21.7 per cent year on year.
Jet Airways was the only Indian carrier to report a decline in traffic for the month, as it focuses on yield as opposed to volume. Jet Airways' passenger numbers slumped 17.7 per cent year-on-year in June, while the carrier's all-economy unit, JetLite, was down 4.9 per cent.
The Capa report said all other domestic carriers, both full service and low cost, increased their passenger traffic in excess of 12 per cent year-on-year in June, including national carrier Air India, which grew by12.2 per cent, IndiGo showed an increase of 19.4 per cent, SpiceJet grew by 29.5 per cent, Paramount increased by 58.7 per cent, Kingfisher Airlines by 79.5 per cent and GoAir by 86.1 per cent.
Kingfisher's figure is an aggregate of both Kingfisher Airlines and Deccan traffic, which has been combined since November 2008. GoAir's passenger numbers for June increased off a small base in June 2008, when the carrier's traffic slumped 25.5 per cent year on year.
Jet Airways also had the lowest seat factor of the domestic carriers in June. Its seat factor was 67.8 per cent, while JetLite maintained a higher seat factor of 74.4 per cent. Jet Airways cut capacity by a further 10 per cent in June and plans to cut an additional 10 per cent of capacity over the course of this fiscal year ending March 31, 2010.
Kingfisher, which recently launched its Dubai service, remains the leader, capturing 24.5 per cent of market share in June. The carrier is likely to gain more share in coming month from Jet Airways' capacity cuts.
Overall scheduled domestic carriers (excluding Paramount) achieved an on-time performance of 81.6 per cent in June. Highlights include IndiGo (87 per cent), Jet Airways (86.4 per cent), GoAir (83.4 per cent), Kingfisher (83 per cent), JetLite (80.4 per cent), SpiceJet (76.9 per cent) and Air India (75.7 per cent, including Alliance Air).
22/07/09 Nina Varghese/Emirates Business 24-7, UAE

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2009