IndiGo gains from Go First grounding, logs highest ever market in May

IndiGo registered its highest ever domestic market share of 61.4 per cent in May, capitalising on Go First suspending flights.

Domestic airlines flew over 13.2 million passengers in May — a sequential growth rate of over 3 per cent. May also saw a record in total domestic traffic, improving on the December 2019 figure of 13.01 million.

Data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday shows IndiGo flew more than 8.1 million passengers and registered a 61.4 per cent share. In the first four months of 2023, IndiGo registered a market share of 54–58 per cent. The airline’s market share last crossed the 60 per cent mark in July 2020.

IndiGo flies around 1,600 domestic flights daily, which is 58 percent of all flights in the country. Other airlines also gained from Go First’s troubles.

Tata Group-owned airlines (AirAsia India, Air India, and Vistara) and Akasa Air reported month-on-month market-share growth. However, SpiceJet’s market share declined to 5.4 per cent in May, from 5.8 per cent in the previous month.

With Go First suspending its flights, IndiGo and Tata Group airlines carried 87.7 per cent of all domestic traffic in May. A month earlier, the collective market share of these airlines was 82.4 per cent.

Go First flew 48,000 passengers in the first two days of May before halting operations. The airline, before its crisis, was operating 26 aircraft from its 54-plane fleet — the rest were grounded due to engine woes.

Go First had a market share of 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent in January and February, respectively. This declined to 6.9 per cent and 6.4 per cent in the two subsequent months. All airlines saw an increase in passenger load factor to over 90 per cent owing to reduced capacity and peak travel demand in May. SpiceJet reported the highest occupancy at 94.8 per cent.

“It was a bumper May for domestic air traffic with all major carriers. The traffic figure indicates a complete recovery of aviation in India. This was achieved with a fewer number of flights deployed compared to the pre-pandemic period and shows the resilience of the aviation sector,” says Ameya Joshi, founder of aviation blog NetworkThoughts.

“Air India is targeting a market share of 30 per cent domestic market under its Vihaan.AI initiative. Tata Group airlines had a 26.3 per cent share in May. When the full flow of deliveries starts, the unified Air India could well aim higher,” he adds.