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Domestic air travel in India witnessed a slowdown in July, with passenger numbers falling by 2.94 per cent year-on-year to 1.26 crore, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in its latest traffic data released on Wednesday. The decline in flyers came in the shadow of the tragic Air India Ahmedabad-London Gatwick crash on June 12 that claimed 260 lives.

Air India Group Loses Ground

According to the DGCA, Indian carriers had transported 1.29 crore passengers on domestic routes in July 2024. Within the Air India Group, passenger numbers stood at 33.08 lakh in July, lower than June’s tally, marking a sequential decline of nearly 1 per cent in market share, news agency PTI reported. The airline had already announced a 5 per cent cut in domestic capacity at the end of June to conduct detailed inspections across its fleet.

The group’s load factor — which represents the proportion of seats filled on flights — also dropped to 78.6 per cent in July from 81.5 per cent in June.

IndiGo Retains Market Leadership

IndiGo continued to dominate the domestic skies, increasing its market share to 65.2 per cent in July compared to 64.5 per cent in June. However, the Gurugram-headquartered carrier carried fewer passengers at 82.15 lakh in July against 87.74 lakh a month earlier.

Despite the dip in passenger numbers, IndiGo outperformed peers in operational reliability, delivering the best on-time performance of 91.4 per cent across the six metro airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

Akasa Air and SpiceJet Edge Up

Smaller players also reported marginal improvements. Akasa Air secured a market share of 5.5 per cent, while SpiceJet ticked up to 2 per cent during the same period, as per the DGCA.

Load factors for several major airlines, including IndiGo, also saw declines in July compared to the preceding month, reflecting overall reduced demand.

The DGCA data underlines how the aviation sector, while resilient, continues to feel the aftershocks of the June Air India tragedy and capacity adjustments across carriers.