Domestic air passenger traffic in India continued its upward trend in January, reaching an estimated 150.3 lakh passengers, according to a new report. 

This represents a 0.7% increase compared to December 2024 and a significant 14.5% jump compared to January last year.

Furthermore, January this year traffic surpassed pre-Covid levels (January 2020) by a robust 17.9%, according to the ICRA report.

For the first 10 months of FY25 (April 2024 to January 2025), domestic air passenger traffic totalled 1,372.1 lakh, demonstrating a 7.5% year-on-year growth and exceeding pre-Covid levels for the same period in FY20 by 13.0%.

International passenger traffic for Indian carriers also showed strong performance.

In the first nine months of FY2025, international traffic reached 248.9 lakh passengers, marking a 14.5% year-on-year increase and a substantial 41.7% rise compared to pre-Covid levels.

According to the report, airlines expanded their capacity deployment in January 2025 by 10.8% compared to January 2024. However, capacity was slightly lower (1.2%) compared to December 2024.

The domestic aviation industry achieved a passenger load factor (PLF) of approximately 92.1% in January 2025, compared to 89.2% in January 2024 and 85.0% in pre-Covid January 2020, said the report.

Fuel costs, a significant component of airline operating expenses, saw some relief.

While ATF prices were higher by 5.3% year-on-year from April to July 2024, they decreased by 14.7% year-on-year from August 2024 to February 2025.

Overall, for the period of April 2024 to February 2025, ATF prices were lower by 8.1% compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year, the report mentioned.

(This story was taken from a syndicated feed and was only edited for style by Gujarat Samachar Digital team)

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