Air Passenger Traffic Steady At Over Three-Year High In April

India's air passenger traffic sustained its momentum in April as it remained flat at an over three-year high as in March.

Air traffic rose 22% to 1.29 crore in comparison with the same month last year, according to monthly data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. It remained below the highest ever monthly traffic of 1.30 crore in December 2019.

India's aviation industry has grown at a rapid pace after the Covid-19 curbs were lifted, paving the way for economic activity across the country.

IndiGo, which is operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., widened its lead at the top by 70 basis points month-on-month with a market share of 57.5%.

Vistara was in second spot with a market share of 8.7%, followed by Air India Ltd. with a market share of 8.6%. Both airlines witnessed a 20 basis point drop in their market share in March. With AirAsia India's 7.6%, the Tata Group airlines cornered a market share of 24.9% in April.

The market share of beleaguered airline Go First fell further to 6.4% in April before it filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month.

No-frills carrier SpiceJet Ltd. also saw its market share decline sharply by 60 basis points to 5.8%.

New-entrant Akasa Air continued to grow, as its market share was up from 3.3% in March to 4% in April.

Akasa Air continued to be the most punctual airline in April with a 94% on-time performance, while Air India jumped ahead of IndiGo to grab the second spot. Air India's 91.1% of flights were on time, while the number was 89.6% for IndiGo.

Go First's on-time performance declined further to 41.7% from 49.2% in March, indicating issues at the budget carrier. SpiceJet improved its punctuality to 69.2% from 63.6% in March.

In terms of load factor, a measure of seat occupancy, SpiceJet remained at the top with 92.2%, followed by Vistara at 92.1% and Go First at 91.2%.