IndiGo breaches 60%-mark in domestic market share

New Delhi: 

IndiGo, India’s largest airline, made history by securing a 61.4% market share in the domestic civil aviation sector during May, data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) showed. This is the highest market share secured by the airline in its history of over 16 years. This is the second time the airline has crossed 60% mark. Its market share in July 2020 was at 60.4%.

The airline's market share increased to 61.4% in May from 57.5% in April. It is important to note that Go First, which had 6.4% market share in April, suspended operations from 3 May. This led to reduction in capacity in Indian aviation market and higher demand for other carriers. 

Indian airlines recorded more than 90% capacity utilisation or passenger load factor in the month of May in a sign of strong demand along with restricted flights deployment ability, data further showed. 

IndiGo recorded a passenger load factor of 91.5% in May as compared to 87.4% in April. The highest capacity utilisation was posted by SpiceJet at 94.8% as compared to 92.2% in April. The airlines under the Air India group also registered more than 90% PLF with Air India at 90.1% in May as compared to 87.9% a month ago, Vistara at 93.2% in May as compared to 92.1% earlier, and Air Asia India stood at 92.8% as compared to 89.4% in the previous month. 

India's domestic air passenger traffic in May stood at 13.2 million passengers. Mint reported exclusively on 2 June that domestic air traffic in May has surpassed the previous record of 13.02 million set in December 2019. The domestic air traffic in May is also 15% higher than the year-ago period and has risen by more than 2% as compared to April. 

The market share of India's youngest airline Akasa Air has increased to 4.8% from 4% in the previous month. The combined market share of Air India group airlines stood at 26.3% with Air India at 9.4%, Vistara at 9%, and AirAsia India at 7.9%. 

The market share of all major airlines increased except SpiceJet which registered a further decline at 5.4%, as compared to 5.8% in April. 

In on-time performance, Akasa Air was the most punctual airline with a punctuality rate of 92.6%, followed by IndiGo at 90.3%, and VistarPa at 89.5%. SpiceJet was the least punctual with an on-time performance of 60.9%.