Jet retains market share

Jet Airways and JetLite, combined, retained their first spot in market share among domestic airlines with 26.3 per cent, while Kingfisher Airlines topped with a 75 per cent load factor in August, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data.

GoAir and SpiceJet had the lowest loads of 65 per cent.

In August, domestic airlines flew 4.7 million passengers. In July, the number was five million. While Jet carried 26 per cent passengers in August, Kingfisher and IndiGo came neck-to-neck for the second slot with 18.8 per cent and 18.7 per cent market share, respectively. Air India came fourth with 17.4 per cent share.

Kingfisher flights had loads of 75.9 per cent, the highest among all airlines whereas low-cost carriers GoAir and SpiceJet had occupancy of 65 per cent and 66 per cent, which were the lowest.

"August witnessed significant decrease in seat factor primarily due to the end of peak season and active monsoon in several parts of India,'' DGCA said in its analysis.

According to aviation industry sources, GoAir's loads dropped much more in comparison to other carriers. GoAir had recorded loads of 87 per cent in May. Only IndiGo and Kingfisher had higher loads that month.

"No other airline has seen a 20 per cent drop in the last fourth months,'' a source said. IndiGo and SpiceJet loads fell 16 per cent during the same period.

"GoAir has reduced the commission and incentives it was offering to its agents and online portals. The airline sells over 50 per cent seats through online portals,'' source said. GoAir did not respond to an email query on the subject.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways has inducted its first next generation Boeing 737-800 with Sky Interior. It took the delivery of the first 11 planes on Tuesday and the rest will be inducted by March 2013. The features of the new Boeing are similar to those of Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

These include modern sculpted sidewalls, larger windows, LED lighting and spacious cabins.

However, the Wadia-group airline had one positive in the month. Its on-time-performance (OTP) of 94.2 per cent was the highest among all domestic airlines. IndiGo, Jet Airways-JetLite and Kingfisher had OTP in between 91 and 92 per cent. Air India was at the bottom with 73 per cent.

Jet Airways will be adding 7 short-haul aircraft by the end of current financial year. Three of the seven would be Boeing 737-800 (New Generation) and the rest would be Boeing 737-900.