New Delhi: Domestic air passenger traffic reached nearly 132.3 lakh in September, up by 0.8 percent compared to 131.3 lakh in August, a report showed on Tuesday, October 8.
The domestic passenger traffic data witnessed a year-on-year growth of 8.1 percent, compared to 122.5 lakh in September last year, as per data by credit rating agency ICRA.
For the first half of the current fiscal (FY25), domestic air passenger traffic was 795.5 lakh, a YoY growth of 5.6 percent and 12.9 percent higher than the pre-Covid level of 704.4 lakh in H1 FY2020.
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In the first five months of FY25, the international passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 135.9 lakh, with a YoY growth of 15.7 percent and higher than the pre-Covid level of 92.2 lakh by 48.7 percent.
The International passenger traffic for Indian carriers is expected to grow by 15-20 percent in FY25.
“The outlook for the Indian aviation industry remains stable, driven by expectations of moderate growth in domestic air passenger traffic and a relatively stable cost environment in FY25,” said the report.
Moreover, the industry witnessed improved pricing power, reflected in the higher yields (over pre-Covid levels) and, thus, the revenue per available seat kilometer–cost per available seat kilometer (RASK–CASK) spread of the airlines.
The momentum in the air passenger traffic witnessed in FY24 is likely to marginally taper down to 7-10 percent in FY25 (compared to 13 percent in FY24), given the high base of FY24 and lower passenger traffic in Q1 FY2025, impacted by severe heat waves and other weather-related disruptions.
The airlines’ capacity deployment in September was higher than last year, by 7.3 percent but lower by 1.7 percent over August 2024.
“It is estimated that the domestic aviation industry operated at a passenger load factor (PLF) of 86.2 percent in September, against 85.6 percent in September 2023,” the report noted.
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