July Sees 4.8% Slide in Domestic Air Passengers, But Yearly Trend Holds

India's domestic air passenger traffic declined by 4.80 per cent to 1.20 crore in July, compared with 1.26 crore in the same month a year earlier, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday.

Despite the monthly fall, cumulative passenger numbers for the period from January to July increased to 984.03 lakh from 977.79 lakh in the corresponding period last year, registering a growth of 0.64 per cent. This indicates that while the monthly figures can be volatile, the overall trend for the first seven months of the year remains positive.

The DGCA, which is the regulatory body for civil aviation in India, publishes these traffic statistics every month. The data covers all scheduled domestic airlines operating in the country, providing a snapshot of the industry's health.

Among the major carriers, IndiGo, the country's largest airline by market share, carried 80.82 lakh passengers in July, down from 89.20 lakh in June. The Air India group, owned by Tata Sons, transported 28.75 lakh passengers during the month, compared with 32.22 lakh in June. Akasa Air carried 6.65 lakh passengers, a drop from 8.61 lakh in the previous month. SpiceJet's passenger count stood at 1.87 lakh, down from 2.63 lakh in June.

In terms of market share, IndiGo increased its share to 67.4 per cent in July from 66.3 per cent in June. The Air India group also saw its market share rise marginally to 24 per cent from 23.9 per cent. In contrast, Akasa Air's market share fell to 5.5 per cent from 6.4 per cent, while SpiceJet's declined to 1.6 per cent from 1.9 per cent during the same period.

The DGCA report also included on-time performance (OTP) data measured across ten domestic airports: Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Guwahati and Lucknow. IndiGo led with 91.2 per cent of its flights departing and arriving on time, followed by Akasa Air at 90.8 per cent.

Additionally, the regulator noted a decline in passenger load factor across all major airlines in July. The load factor, which reflects the percentage of available seats filled, is a key efficiency metric for airlines. A drop in this figure suggests weaker demand or increased capacity in the market.

The July data presents a mixed picture for the Indian aviation sector. On a month-on-month basis, the industry witnessed a clear slowdown, with all major airlines reporting lower passenger volumes compared to June. However, the cumulative growth over the first seven months indicates that the underlying demand for air travel remains steady. The DGCA's monthly statistics are widely followed by industry analysts and policymakers as a barometer for the sector's performance.