Domestic air traffic up 24 per cent in August

Domestic airlines flew 8.3 million passengers in August posting nearly 24 per cent growth over year, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Last August, carriers had flown 6.7 million passengers.

Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, in a tweet, said the 24 per cent growth in domestic air passenger traffic in August was the highest across aviation markets. "Another month of record growth for Indian aviation. August records 24 per cent - highest worldwide," Raju tweeted. IndiGo retained its top slot among airlines, with a market share of 39.9 per cent, followed by Jet Airways-JetLite, 19.2 per cent share, and Air India was third, with 14.6 per cent share. SpiceJet continues to report 90 per cent-plus occupancy, which is the highest among all airlines. In August, SpiceJet reported 93.2 per cent load factor, followed by GoAir, which reported 86 per cent load factor.

Low fares have been driving passenger growth in India and the country is reporting the fastest growth among all major markets. Last month, International Air Transport Association (Iata) said growth in India was propelled by strong growth in consumer spending. Another reason was increase in frequencies and routes, which cuts journey time for passengers and has the same effect on demand as large cut in fares, Iata had said.