At over 4 lakh, Oct 9 sees highest daily domestic flyers since Covid outbreak – Times of India
NEW DELHI: This Sunday (October 9) saw the highest number of domestic flyers since the outbreak of Covid in March 2020. The aviation ministry said just over 4 lakh (4,02,697 to be precise) flew within the country that day on 2,732 domestic flights. On this recovery in air traffic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Great sign. Our focus is to further improve connectivity across India, which is important for ‘ease of living’ and economic progress.”
Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted: “On the road to full recovery, the Indian civil aviation has not only hit the 4-lakh daily passengers mark, but also achieved the highest ever numbers since pre-Covid 19 era! Way to go, India.”
For the last few months steep airfares due to record high aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices and record low rupee-dollar exchange rate meant that the daily domestic air traffic was stuck way below the 4-lakh mark. Airlines were expecting a recovery in air travel after Dussehra and see this uptick in travel continuing till early January before the lean travel quarter (Jan-March) kicks in.
Rating agency ICRA estimates domestic passenger traffic for April-September 2022 at about 6.3 crore, a YoY growth of about 111%, and lower by only 11% compared to pre-Covid April-September 2019. Airlines’ capacity deployment in September 2022 was about 27% higher than September 2021 (and) lower by about 9% than pre-Covid levels.
It is estimated that domestic aviation industry operated at a passenger load factor of about 84% in September 2022, against about 73% in September 2021 and nearly 86% in September 2019. The international passenger traffic for Indian carriers in September 2022 strongly surpassed the pre-Covid level of 25.1 lakh by 34%,” rating agency ICRA’s VP Suprio Banerjee said.
However despite the strong traffic over next three months, the challenges for airlines remain with some struggling to survive. “A steady rise in prices of ATF and a general inflationary environment continue to dampen the industry earnings, with ATF prices in October 2022 higher by 60% (compared to October 2021)…. While airlines have been increasing yields (airfares), in ICRA’s view the same has not been adequate to offset the impact of the rising ATF prices,” Banerjee said.
While domestic air travel is expected to recover to pre-Covid levels this fiscal, “earnings recovery for domestic airlines will be slow-paced due to elevated ATF prices in addition to the rupee depreciation against the US dollar amid a heightened competitive environment,” the ICRA official added.
Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted: “On the road to full recovery, the Indian civil aviation has not only hit the 4-lakh daily passengers mark, but also achieved the highest ever numbers since pre-Covid 19 era! Way to go, India.”
For the last few months steep airfares due to record high aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices and record low rupee-dollar exchange rate meant that the daily domestic air traffic was stuck way below the 4-lakh mark. Airlines were expecting a recovery in air travel after Dussehra and see this uptick in travel continuing till early January before the lean travel quarter (Jan-March) kicks in.
Rating agency ICRA estimates domestic passenger traffic for April-September 2022 at about 6.3 crore, a YoY growth of about 111%, and lower by only 11% compared to pre-Covid April-September 2019. Airlines’ capacity deployment in September 2022 was about 27% higher than September 2021 (and) lower by about 9% than pre-Covid levels.
It is estimated that domestic aviation industry operated at a passenger load factor of about 84% in September 2022, against about 73% in September 2021 and nearly 86% in September 2019. The international passenger traffic for Indian carriers in September 2022 strongly surpassed the pre-Covid level of 25.1 lakh by 34%,” rating agency ICRA’s VP Suprio Banerjee said.
However despite the strong traffic over next three months, the challenges for airlines remain with some struggling to survive. “A steady rise in prices of ATF and a general inflationary environment continue to dampen the industry earnings, with ATF prices in October 2022 higher by 60% (compared to October 2021)…. While airlines have been increasing yields (airfares), in ICRA’s view the same has not been adequate to offset the impact of the rising ATF prices,” Banerjee said.
While domestic air travel is expected to recover to pre-Covid levels this fiscal, “earnings recovery for domestic airlines will be slow-paced due to elevated ATF prices in addition to the rupee depreciation against the US dollar amid a heightened competitive environment,” the ICRA official added.
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