Air India to add extra capacity in domestic sector

With aviation capacity coming under strain, national carrier Air India Saturday said that it is planning to ramp up capacity in the domestic sector by inducting more aircraft.

The airline said that it will press into service a Boeing 747, 777-200LR and B777-300ER to clear the holiday rush.

The airline is also planning to induct an additional Boeing 787 on the domestic routes.

Air India said that it will also induct five new A320 aircraft on lease from February 2015 onwards.

Currently, the airline has issued a tender for inducting 14 A320 aircraft in an all economy configuration from 2015 onwards in the domestic sector.

The national carrier's capacity upgrade plans come when its market share has gone up by 15 percent from 30,313 passengers a day in December 2013 to 35,100 passengers a day in the first half of December 2014.

The airline said that similarly on a network basis the uplift has gone up by nearly 12 percent from 45,100 passengers a day in 2013 to 50,500 passengers a day in 2014.

Along with its subsidiary Air India Express, the airline has carried 58,160 passengers per day in the first half of December 2014 as against 53,720 passengers per day in the corresponding period of last year, which represents a growth of eight percent.

The airline's average passenger revenue stood at Rs.52.70 crore a day inclusive of Air India Express during the first half of December 2014.

The average passenger load factor on its domestic network stood at 85.2 percent and on the entire network was 75.0 percent which is in line with the turnaround plan.

Its yield on the domestic network was Rs.6.92 per ton pkm. (passenger km). The subsidiary Air India Express also averaged passenger load factor of 81.5 percent.