India’s domestic air passenger traffic registers 95% year-on-year growth in January 2023: Nearly doubles to 1.25 crore

By: Yash Gupte

Though the domestic passenger traffic has doubled in January and it has brought cheers to the aviation industry in India, there has been a drop in number of passengers in January as compared to December.

According to the monthly statistics on India’s domestic air passenger traffic released by the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), January witnessed a record increase in the number of passengers as compared to January 2022. The air passenger traffic nearly doubled to 1.25 crore in January 2023 as compared to 64.08 lakh recorded in the year-ago period. For the fifth consecutive month, IndiGo's domestic market share fell to 54.6 percent in January. The airline had carried 68.47 lakh passengers in December 2022. The airline held a 59.72 percent market share in August of last year. According to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regulator received more complaints in January from passengers of different airlines over baggage problems, flight problems, and staff behaviour.

Air India and Vistara carried 11.55 lakh and 11.05 lakh passengers, respectively, in January, with a market share of 9.2 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively. In January 2023, the three domestic flights operated by the Tata Group airlines—Air India, Vistara, and AirAsia India carried a combined 32.30 lakh passengers, or almost 26 percent of the domestic market.

For the past two years, covid waves, an inflationary environment, and an increase in flying tickets because of the weak rupee and high jet fuel prices have frequently hampered the demand for travel. The passenger traffic saw extreme fluctuations in 2022 as well. Because of worries about a second Covid pandemic wave in January 2022, domestic air passenger traffic really dropped significantly to only 6.4 million. Numbers increased steadily until May 2022, when traffic reached 1.2 million. This was almost equal to the pre-Covid level of 12.2 million in May 2019 and 11.8 million in May 2018.

Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation

The domestic passenger traffic nearly doubled in January 2023 as compared to the same month a year ago. Though the domestic passenger traffic has doubled in January and it has brought cheers to the aviation industry in India, there has been a drop in number of passengers in January as compared to December. In December 2022, around 127. 35 lakhs or 1.27 crore passengers travelled via airlines. This number dropped to 125 lakhs or 1.25 crore in January 2023. January saw fewer passengers fly than December, when demand for year-end travel caused huge lines at major airports like Delhi and Mumbai. For instance, IndiGo, which has a 55 percent market share, had a decline in passenger load factor (PLF) from 87.5 percent in December to 82 percent in January. In a similar vein, Air India saw a decrease in load from 89 percent in December to 87.5 percent in January.

Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation

IndiGo continued to have the highest market share in January 2023, followed by Air India and Vistara. In January 2023, the three domestic flights operated by the Tata Group airlines—Air India, Vistara, and AirAsia India carried a combined 32.30 lakh passengers, or almost 26 percent of the domestic market. The youngest airline Akasa Air, which started operations in August 2022, ended the year with 0.6 percent stake in the total yearly air traffic.

Domestic airlines handled 1,232.45 lakh passengers from January to December 2022, up from 838.14 lakh during the same period the previous year, a growth of 47.05 percent annually, according to the civil aviation agency. Though, more number of passenger travelled by air in 2022 as compared to 2021, the number continued to be less as compared to 2019. This shows that the pandemic had a severe impact on the aviation industry and the domestic passenger traffic has not been able to return to the pre-covid levels.

In the long run though, there can be no doubt that the aviation sector in India will grow at very healthy rates. For one, massive foreign direct and domestic investments in India across a spectrum will fuel business travel. Many new airports have been inaugurated by the government in recent months and more are expected to be completed and inaugurated at the earliest in different states of the country. This will definitely provide a boost to the aviation industry and bring an increase in the domestic passenger traffic.