Domestic air traffic fell 27% in April as second Covid wave hurts demand

Domestic air traffic fell 27 per cent in April on a sequential basis as the second wave of Covid-19 hurt travel demand. Airlines flew 5.7 million passengers in April compared to 7.8 million passengers in March.

The introduction of mandatory RT-PCR tests and lockdown like curbs introduced by various states including Maharashtra and Delhi dampened the demand. This had an impact on customer travel plans and airlines saw 50-60 per cent drop in bookings. Airlines also began cancelling and clubbing flights with the fall in loads.

Among the airlines, SpiceJet reported highest seat occupancy of 70.8 per cent followed by