PTI

New Delhi: Jet Airways has taken the biggest share of the total 31.5 million air passengers this year, followed by National Aviation Company of India Ltd, the erstwhile Indian Airlines.

According to the latest Civil Aviation Ministry figures, Jet Airways has carried 22.4% of the total 31.5 million air passengers till September.

On the other hand, Kingfisher Airlines carried 14.6% of the air passengers, which incidentally is behind NACIL, which had a share of 15.9%.

Among the low-cost airlines, Air Deccan now Kingfisher Red tops the list with a 13.3% market share, followed by Spicejet with 9.8% and JetLite with 8%.

As per the ministry figures, there has been a decline of 0.71% in the number of passengers this year.

In 2005, there were 22.3 million air passengers, which grew to 32.7 million in 2006 and to 43.3 million in 2007.

Ministry officials said the number of passengers carried by each airline depended on the routes which it serviced, the availability of aircraft, and pricing, among other reasons, and did not necessarily reflect passenger preferences.

Meanwhile, the government has given no-objection certificate to Jagson Airlines, Star Aviation and ZAV Air under the category of “Scheduled Regional Airline” to start operations, other than MDLR, which has already commenced operations.