Domestic air travel bounces back in May after April dip due to Jet grounding
Highlights
- The bounce back in May comes after April 2019 saw a 4.5% dip in domestic flyers over April 2018 due to the grounding of Jet Airways
- Later Jet’s aircraft and crew were taken by other airlines to add new flights
(Representative image)NEW DELHI: The resilience of Indian airlines has ensured that May 2019 — the first full month after Jet Airways stopped flying in April — saw more domestic passengers than the same month in previous year. May 2019 saw 1.2 crore domestic flyers, up 2.9% from 1.18 crore in May 2018.
The bounce back in May comes after April 2019 saw a 4.5% dip in domestic flyers over April 2018 due to the grounding of Jet. Later Jet’s aircraft and crew were taken by other airlines to add new flights.
IndiGo saw its domestic market share at 49%, followed by SpiceJet at 14.8% in May 2019. Air India, which is the only big Indian carrier with no aircraft on order or fleet expansion plans, was at third place with 13.5% market share.
The peak summer month and temporarily reduced capacity after Jet got grounded on April 17, 2019, saw domestic flights register very high passenger load factor (PLF or aircraft occupancy) ranging from 93.9% for SpiceJet to 85% for Air India (among big airlines).
After Jet’s grounding, the share of low cost carriers in domestic aviation is now at 81.2%. While LCCs domestic load factors of LCCs started at 87.8% for AirAsia India, full service Vistara saw PLF of 85.6% (in its three cabin-configuration planes) and Air India had a PLF of 85% (for its two-class configuration planes). Full service airlines have business and economy, with Vistara having an additional premium economy segment.
SpiceJet took over 20 Boeing 737s of Jet Airways and started operating them. Later Vistara also took six of ex-Jet B737s. These two airlines added significant number of flights to fill in the void created by Jet. The government had given Jet’s slots at airports to other airlines on this condition only that they quickly mount more flights to help rein in airfares that were defying gravity after Jet started reducing flights from earlier this year before suspending all operations on the midnight of April 17-18.
SpiceJet chief sales and revenue officer Shilpa Bhatia said: “For the 50th month in a row SpiceJet has flown with the highest loads in India. In May, our passenger load factor stood at 93.9%. This is a feat unparalleled in global aviation industry and a huge milestone for SpiceJet. This record firmly establishes SpiceJet's standing as country's most preferred airline.”
The bounce back in May comes after April 2019 saw a 4.5% dip in domestic flyers over April 2018 due to the grounding of Jet. Later Jet’s aircraft and crew were taken by other airlines to add new flights.
IndiGo saw its domestic market share at 49%, followed by SpiceJet at 14.8% in May 2019. Air India, which is the only big Indian carrier with no aircraft on order or fleet expansion plans, was at third place with 13.5% market share.
The peak summer month and temporarily reduced capacity after Jet got grounded on April 17, 2019, saw domestic flights register very high passenger load factor (PLF or aircraft occupancy) ranging from 93.9% for SpiceJet to 85% for Air India (among big airlines).
After Jet’s grounding, the share of low cost carriers in domestic aviation is now at 81.2%. While LCCs domestic load factors of LCCs started at 87.8% for AirAsia India, full service Vistara saw PLF of 85.6% (in its three cabin-configuration planes) and Air India had a PLF of 85% (for its two-class configuration planes). Full service airlines have business and economy, with Vistara having an additional premium economy segment.
SpiceJet took over 20 Boeing 737s of Jet Airways and started operating them. Later Vistara also took six of ex-Jet B737s. These two airlines added significant number of flights to fill in the void created by Jet. The government had given Jet’s slots at airports to other airlines on this condition only that they quickly mount more flights to help rein in airfares that were defying gravity after Jet started reducing flights from earlier this year before suspending all operations on the midnight of April 17-18.
SpiceJet chief sales and revenue officer Shilpa Bhatia said: “For the 50th month in a row SpiceJet has flown with the highest loads in India. In May, our passenger load factor stood at 93.9%. This is a feat unparalleled in global aviation industry and a huge milestone for SpiceJet. This record firmly establishes SpiceJet's standing as country's most preferred airline.”
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