Domestic air passenger traffic up by 8.98% in February on rising demand; AirAsia India tops in on-time performance: DGCA

New Delhi: Domestic air passenger traffic in February increased by 8.98 percent to 12.36 million as compared to the same period last year, according to data released on Wednesday by aviation regulator DGCA.

However, the rise in the number of domestic air passengers for January was just 2.2 percent when compared with January 2019 figures.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data, passenger load factors of all major airlines -- Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, AirAsia India and Vistara -- increased in February as compared to January.

#AviationData | Domestic air passenger traffic growth for the month of February comes in at 8.98% against 2.2% seen in January pic.twitter.com/exrulgkOKt

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 18, 2020

The passenger load factor measures the seat capacity utilisation of the airline.

In its report the DGCA stated, "The passenger load factor in the month of February 2020 has shown increasing trend primarily due to airlines offering promotional fares resulting in increased demand."

With 83.4 percent, AirAsia India was number one in on-time performance (OTP) measured at four metro cities -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

IndiGo at 81.6 percent and GoAir at 78.6 percent were number two and three respectively on OTP performance at these four cities. The airline also maintained its lead position with 48 percent share of the domestic passenger market in February 2020.

SpiceJet's market share decreased from 16.6 percent in January to 15.3 percent in February, even as it retained the number two spot, as per the data.

The market share of Air India, GoAir, AirAsia India and Vistara was 12 percent, 10 percent, 7.3 percent and 6.7 percent respectively last month.

In February, a total of 790 passenger-related complaints were received by the domestic airlines. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the same month was around 0.64, according to the data.

Among the major domestic airlines, Air India topped the list of passenger grievances with 1.9 complaints per 10,000 passengers in February, while GoAir was at number two position with one complaint per 10,000 passengers.