India's July domestic air passenger traffic up 21%

India's domestic air passenger traffic rose by 20.82 per cent in July, official data showed on Monday.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), 1.15 crore passengers were ferried by the domestic airlines during the month under review, up from 95.65 lakh reported during the corresponding month of 2017.

As per the data furnished by the DGCA, the passenger traffic during the January-July 2018 period grew by 22 per cent.

"Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-July 2018 were 800.40 lakhs as against 657.21 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 21.79 per cent," the DGCA said in its monthly domestic traffic report.

The data disclosed that low-cost carrier SpiceJet had the highest passenger load factor (PLF) -- a measure of capacity utilisation of the airline -- at 93.8 per cent during July.

"July 2018 marked the 40th month in a row that we have flown with the highest loads in the country," said Shilpa Bhatia, Chief Sales and Revenue officer, SpiceJet.

SpiceJet was followed by IndiGo with a PLF of 88.7 per cent, GoAir at 87.2 per cent and Vistara at 84.1 per cent.

"The passenger load factor in the month of July 2018 has shown declining trend compared to previous month primarily due to the end of tourist season," the monthly statistical analysis statement said.

--IANS

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