Airline Passengers: Domestic airlines on Sunday carried 408,831 passengers, a record high since flights resumed in May 2020. This is almost 96% of traffic from before Covid, the Business Standard reported.
In fact, over the weekend, domestic air traffic surpassed 400,000 on two separate days, marking another milestone in the previous 2.5 years. Airlines transported 405,963 people on Saturday.
The civil aviation ministry reports that 2,739 domestic flights were conducted on Sunday. Go First had the greatest seat occupancy at 96.7%, followed by SpiceJet and Air India, all of which had loads of over 95%. Before the Christmas-New Year holidays, which are a busy time for the tourism industry, flight traffic is on the rise.
“This new high of total post-pandemic domestic air travellers in India speaks of both the resilience and the growth potential of Indian aviation. IndiGo itself welcomed 250,000 customers on Sunday,” IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers said. “Overall, we remain confident and optimistic with our efforts to reach new heights and cross new frontiers as we further increase connectivity and accessibility.”
Added Gaurav Patwari, vice president (Air) of Mumbai-headquartered online travel company Cleartrip.com, “A strong demand is seen across all segments, and December is expected to be robust. The recent correction in oil prices and a stable rupee are favourable macroeconomic factors for the airlines, and will help them to recover from the past losses.”
The largest passenger growth in the previous two and a half years, according to Ameya Joshi, founder of the aviation site Network Thoughts, was accomplished on Sunday with fewer flights. He noted that on April 17, domestic airlines had carried 407,975 passengers on 2,838 flights.
There are now fewer flights being run as a result of the grounding of more than 50 Airbus A320neo aircraft owned by Go First and IndiGo. The amount of aviation travel over the previous week was greater than 385,000. Business personnel are claimed to have taken travels before Christmas and throughout the year-end breaks, which is said to have contributed to the growth.
“We will continue to see 400,000-plus traffic figures regularly. This will not be an isolated episode,” a civil aviation ministry official remarked.
