Domestic air passenger traffic increased by 2.2 per cent in January: DGCA

The domestic air passenger traffic in January increased by 2.2 percent to 1.27 crore compared to the same month in 2019, according to data released by aviation regulator DGCA on Monday.

In comparison, the growth in domestic traffic in December 2019 was 2.56 percent compared to December 2018.

The passenger load factors of Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, AirAsia India declined in January 2020 as compared to December last year, as per the DGCA data.

The passenger load factor measures the seat capacity utilisation of the airline.

DGCA stated in its report, "The passenger load factor in the month of January 2020 has shown decreasing trend compared to previous month due to end of tourist season."

With 75.7 percent, AirAsia India was number one in on-time performance (OTP) measured at four metro cities -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

IndiGo at 74 percent and Vistara at 70.2 percent were number two and number three respectively on OTP performance at these four cities.

IndiGo maintained its lead position with 47.9 percent share of the domestic passenger market in January 2020, the data showed.

SpiceJet's market share increased from 16.5 percent in December to 16.6 percent in January, giving it the number two spot, as per the data.

The market share of Air India, GoAir, AirAsia India and Vistara was 11.6 percent, 9.8 percent, 6.9 percent and 6.5 percent respectively last month.

In January, a total of 798 passenger-related complaints were received by the domestic airlines, according to the DGCA data.

The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the month of December was around 0.62.

Among major domestic airlines, Air India topped the list of passenger grievances with 1.9 complaints per 10,000 passengers in September, while GoAir was on number two position with one complaint per 10,000 passengers, as per the DGCA data.