New Delhi: Air India, which was facing flak around Diwali with severe flight delays and cancellations, actually carried the maximum passenger loads across its aircraft in October.
According to data released by DGCA, aircraft occupancy across Air India's domestic network was the best among all domestic airlines at 83.5 percent, followed by SpiceJet at 80.1 percent as market leader IndiGo languished at 76.8 percent and even AirAsia India flew with 76.2 percent occupancy.
In other words, while Air India had more than 8 in 10 seats full on its aircraft and SpiceJet was close behind, IndiGo and AirAsia India flew with almost one in four seats empty. This is surprising since October was the festival month and actually saw passenger traffic growth of 18.31 percent month on month to 59.25 lakh passengers.
During the Diwali week, passengers travelling on the Air India network actually faced much difficulty as many flights got delayed - some beyond two hours - or were clubbed with other flights. This also lead to offloading of some pre-booked passengers. Airline officials had expressed their helplessness then, saying engine trouble had grounded some aircraft creating capacity shortage.
17/11/14 Sindhu Bhattacharya/FirstBiz
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
According to data released by DGCA, aircraft occupancy across Air India's domestic network was the best among all domestic airlines at 83.5 percent, followed by SpiceJet at 80.1 percent as market leader IndiGo languished at 76.8 percent and even AirAsia India flew with 76.2 percent occupancy.
In other words, while Air India had more than 8 in 10 seats full on its aircraft and SpiceJet was close behind, IndiGo and AirAsia India flew with almost one in four seats empty. This is surprising since October was the festival month and actually saw passenger traffic growth of 18.31 percent month on month to 59.25 lakh passengers.
During the Diwali week, passengers travelling on the Air India network actually faced much difficulty as many flights got delayed - some beyond two hours - or were clubbed with other flights. This also lead to offloading of some pre-booked passengers. Airline officials had expressed their helplessness then, saying engine trouble had grounded some aircraft creating capacity shortage.
17/11/14 Sindhu Bhattacharya/FirstBiz
