PremiumNEW DELHI: Domestic air passenger traffic crashed to about 20 lakh passengers in May, down 67% sequentially, due to the vicious second surge in covid-19 infections in the country, credit rating agency Icra said on Thursday.
The May passenger traffic was also lower than the numbers registered during June-July 2020, when a two-month nationwide stringent lockdown was lifted by the government.
Airlines’ capacity deployment for May was lower by 54-55% compared to April 2021 (about 27,700 departures in May 2021, against about 60,300 departures in April 2021), indicating a fall in demand, stemming from people's unwillingness to travel amid the pandemic, the report said.
Besides, the imposition of mandatory home quarantine measures, and lockdowns imposed by various states and union territories also hit passenger traffic and airline operations.
During May, average daily departures stood at 900, significantly lower than 2,000 departures registered in April 2021, Icra said in the report.
"The average number of passengers per flight during May 2021 was 72, against an average of 93 passengers per flight in April 2021," said Kinjal Shah, Vice President and Co-Group Head at Icra.
"The gradual decline depicts the continuing stress on demand, driven largely by the second wave of Covid-19, limiting travel to only necessary travel, while both leisure and business travel have been curtailed due to various state-wide restrictions and the spread of the infections," Shah added.
Indian airlines are expected to incur net losses of about ₹21,000 crore this financial year following the widespread disruptions caused by the pandemic and will need additional funding of up to ₹37,000 crore through FY23 to recover from their losses and debt, according to Icra estimates.
However, support from the government in the form of upward revision in air fares and coverage of the sector under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 3.0 is positive for the industry, providing the airlines with the much-needed liquidity support, it added.
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!