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 GoAir and AirAsia which registered around 65 per cent occupancy. Air India, IndiGo and Vistara reported seat occupancy below 60 per cent.

GoAir, IndiGo and Vistara reported the best on time performance among all airlines. GoAir,  Air India and IndiGo registered an increase in market share while AirAsia, SpiceJet and Vistara saw a decline.

An airline executive said Maharashtra government's move to insist on a negative RT-PCR test 48 hours before travel and ongoing restrictions continue to impact the travel in May and daily air traffic has reduced to less than 100,000 passengers.