Indian Domestic Aviation in May: IndiGo Leads in Passenger Numbers, Akasa Air in OTP

Every month, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) releases data including passenger numbers, On-Time Passengers, passenger load factors, and cancellations. The data for May month has been released. In this article, let us have a detailed look at Indian domestic aviation in May 2024.

Passenger Numbers: IndiGo Maintains the Lead

In May, Indian airlines jointly carried a total of 137.96 lakh passengers. Compared to the previous month, there has been a growth of 4.40% in the number of passengers carried. In April 2024, 132.14 lakh passengers traveled within India. Compared to May 2023, this number has increased by 3.99%.

Now, let us take a look at the number of passengers carried by each airline.

• IndiGo has been leading in this segment for years now. With a market share of 61.6%, the largest airline carried 85.04 lakh passengers.
• Air India, with a market share of 13.7% at the second position carried 18.93 lakh passengers.
• Vistara held a market share of 9.2% carrying 12.71 lakh passengers.
• AIX Connect, or say the erstwhile AirAsia India carried 7.03 lakh passengers, with a market share of 5.1%.

• Akasa Air, the newest airline in India carried 6.64 lakh passengers, with a market share of 4.8%.
• Akasa Air has once again trumped SpiceJet, which carried 5.54 lakh passengers with a 4% market share.
• Other carriers include Alliance Air with 1% and Star Air with 0.4% market share, carrying 1.35 and 0.58 lakh passengers respectively.

IndiGo and Akasa Air are the only airlines, whose market share has increased when compared to the previous month. All the TATA Group airlines witnessed a decline in their market shares.

On-Time Performance: Akasa Air Maintains Lead

Akasa Air, the newest major airline in India has maintained its lead when it comes to On-Time Performance. A quick reminder that DGCA shares OTP data only for four major metro cities: Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

• In May, 85.9% of flights of Akasa Air from these four airports were on time. Even after a reduction of 4%, the airline is leading. Akasa Air has continued this lead for the past three months.
• Vistara has improved its on-time performance, with 81.9% of flights on time.
• AIX Connect had 7.9% of flights on time.
• IndiGo is having a hard time toping this list nowadays. Once it used to be a consistent topper, but now, its OTP has reached 72.8%. Looking at its size and scale, it is not that bad but still, there is a lot of room for improvement.

• More disappointment for Air India with an OTP of 68.4%.
• Only 68.4% of flights of Air India were on time in May month.
• SpiceJet and Alliance Air continue to remain down the list with an OTP of 60.7% and 58.7% respectively.

Passenger Load Factor

When was the last time that three airlines achieved a passenger load factor (PLF) above 90%? PLF refers to average aircraft occupancy. In May, three airlines namely Akasa Air, SpiceJet, and Vistara had their PLF above 90%.

SpiceJet had the highest PLF with 94.1%, Vistara with 93.4%, and Akasa Air with 90.3%. What is common between all of them? They provide premium cabins in the front on some of their aircraft. SpiceJet has SpiceMax, Akasa Air has A++, and Vistara has many A320/A321s with three cabins.

IndiGo maintained the fourth position with a PLF of 88.4%, which is great when you consider the airline’s size. Air India and AIX Connect both had 86.9% PLF.

Indian Aviation: Main Highlights on the Month

These were the major highlights from these data.

• The market share of TATA Group Airlines (Air India + Vistara + AIX Connect) has decreased from 28.8% in April to 28% in May.
• Three airlines- SpiceJet, Akasa Air, and Vistara have PLF above 90%.
• The flight cancellation rate in May month was 1.70%, with FlyBig canceling 30% of its flights. The airline operations were affected because of the fire in the Kumaon region.
• PLF of Zooom Air, the relaunched carrier has gone all the way down to 0.3%, meaning negligible.

Conclusion: Indian Domestic Aviation in May

DGCA has released the Indian domestic aviation data for May 2024. IndiGo leads in terms of passenger numbers. Akasa Air leads in terms of On-Time Performance. FlyBig is the leader, when it comes to cancellations. Air India and IndiGo are struggling to maintain their OTPs at major airports like Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. The total market share of TATA Group Airlines has witnessed a minor decrement.

What do you think about the May month Indian aviation data? Discuss in the comment section.