Indian Domestic Air Passenger Traffic Sees Modest Uptick In November: ICRA Report

New Delhi

According to a report by credit rating agency ICRA, the Indian aviation industry witnessed a modest increase in domestic passenger traffic for November. Domestic air passenger traffic reached approximately 127.1 lakh, indicating a marginal increase of around 0.6% compared to October's 126.4 lakh. In a year-over-year comparison, November exhibited notable growth of around 9%, with passenger numbers increasing from 116.8 lakh in November 2022. However, the figures still lag behind pre-Covid levels, showing a 2% decrease from the November 2019 benchmark of 129.5 lakh. The cumulative domestic air passenger traffic for the first eight months of FY2024 (April-November 2023) reached 1,007.00 lakh, representing a robust year-over-year growth of 17% over the same period in the previous fiscal year (8M FY2023). The current figures are approximately 5% higher than the pre-Covid levels of April-November 2019, which stood at 956.20 lakh passengers. ICRA's report also highlights the airline industry's capacity deployment in November 2023, revealing an 8% increase compared to the same month in 2022. However, this surge remains 4% lower than the pre-Covid levels observed in November 2019. The estimated passenger load factor (PLF) for November 2023 stood at approximately 88%, closely aligning with the figures from November 2022. Nevertheless, it marked a slight dip from the pre-Covid levels of November 2019 when the PLF was around 90%. Fuel prices, a critical factor for the aviation industry, experienced fluctuations during FY2024. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices witnessed a sequential decline until June 2023, followed by a sequential increase until October 2023. In November and December 2023, ATF prices registered a decline of approximately 6% and 5%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis, aligning with the overall decrease in crude oil prices.