Low cost airline Indigo recorded its highest ever market share of 40% for September as it continued to chip away at the share of other airlines with the sole exception of Spicejet, which managed to increase its market share marginally compared to the same period a year ago.
The other major domestic airlines saw decline in their market share ranging from 40-300 basis points. Although July-September period is historically considered to be weakest in terms of earning for the airlines, the sector saw robust passenger growth in September, with airlines carrying 82 lakh passengers, a growth of 23% year-on-year.
According to the data released by civil aviation regulator DGCA for September, the growth in passenger traffic has been accompanied by an increase in overall passenger load factor or capacity utilisation. The industry load factor improved by nearly 50 basis points to 79.2% from 78.7% a month ago.
At 93.5%, SpiceJet’s passenger load factor this month was its highest. Additionally, Indigo and Go Air both managed to improve their capacity utilisation even as it declines marginally for both the full service carriers Air India and Jet Airways.
“The average aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price cooled off from R50.9 a litre in Jul’16 to R47 in Sep’16,” a note from brokerage firm Anand Rathi said. It added that the new civil aviation policy, steady crude-oil prices and the government’s sharper focus will drive demand to over 20% during the current fiscal
