India's airlines record 8.5 pc rise in domestic flyers in April

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) The number of passengers flown by India’s domestic airlines during April this year crossed the 1.43 crore mark, which represents an 8.45 per cent increase compared to the same month of the previous year, despite bad weather impacting operations during the month, figures released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Wednesday showed.

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-April this year went up to 575.13 lakh, which represents a 9.87 per cent increase over the corresponding figure of 523.46 lakh during the same period of the previous year.

Bad weather was a significant factor in flight disruptions during April, accounting for 38.8 per cent of all cancellations in air tickets by passengers. This directly impacted 20,840 passengers, as a result of which airlines had to shell out Rs 41.69 lakh in compensation and facilities, marking a 117 per cent increase month-on-month.

Beyond cancellations, delays also affected a large number of travellers, with 96,350 people experiencing delays in April, a 68 per cent jump compared to March. As many as 70 per cent of these passengers were hit by "reactionary" delays, primarily due to the late arrival of planes from earlier journeys.

The country’s leading domestic airline IndiGo, increased its passenger market share to 64.1 per cent in April from 64 per cent in March. The airline also registered an improvement in its passenger load factor to 86.9 per cent from 84.6 per cent, according to the DGCA data.

The Air India Group also gained market share, rising to 27.2 per cent from 26.7 per cent during the month. The airline’s passenger load factor rose to 83.3 per cent from 80.6 per cent. Akasa Air's market share remained unchanged at 5 per cent. Debt-ridden SpiceJet recorded a decline in market share from 2.6 per cent from 3.3 per cent but there, the airline recorded an improvement in its load factor to 86 per cent from 84.8 per cent.

Akasa Air registered the highest passenger load factor, with an increase to 93 per cent during April from 92.5 per cent in March.

The load factor of an airline refers to the percentage of available seats on a flight that are filled with paying passengers. It's a key metric reflecting an airline's efficiency in utilising its capacity and is an indicator of its profitability.

During April 2025, a total of 910 passenger-related complaints had been received by the scheduled domestic airlines. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the month of April 2025 has been around 0.64.

--IANS

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