At over 4 lakh, October 9 sees highest daily domestic flyers since Covid outbreak

On October 9, 2022 India witnessed the most domestic flyers since the Covid outbreak in March 2020. According to the Minister of Civil Aviation Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia, on October 9, nearly 4 lakh (402,697) people flew within the country on 2,732 domestic aircraft.

For the last few months, exorbitant airfares due to record high aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices and a record low rupee-dollar exchange rate meant that daily domestic flight traffic remained far below 4 lakh. Airlines anticipated a resurgence in air travel following Dussehra, with this rise expected to last until early January, before the lean travel quarter (January-March) begins.

ICRA anticipates domestic passenger traffic for April-September 2022 at around 6.3 crore, a YoY increase of roughly 111% and an 11% decrease compared to pre-Covid April-September 2019. Airlines' capacity deployment in September 2022 was approximately 27% greater than in September 2021 and approximately 9% lower than pre-Covid levels. The domestic aviation industry is expected to have a passenger load factor of almost 84% in September 2022, up from around 73% in September 2021 and approximately 86% in September 2019.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.