Airlines' shares gain as record 5 lakh flyers travel in a single day

The shares of IndiGo's parent company Interglobe Aviation and troubled low-cost carrier SpiceJet shot up by 3 per cent in Tuesday's intraday trade after India's domestic air traffic crossed the historic 5 lakh mark in a single day for the first time ever.

The surge in traffic is being driven by the strong demand for air travel in the country amid the festive and wedding seasons with airlines carrying over 5.0 5 lakh passengers on November 17 while flight departures stood at 3,173.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation lauded the historic high in a post on X, stating: "On November 17, 2024, Indian aviation marked a historic milestone as 5,05,412 domestic passengers flew in a single day, surpassing the remarkable 5-lakh passenger threshold. This reflects the sector's rapid growth and the increasing trust of Indians in air travel's accessibility and reliability."

The occupancy of flights operated by the main scheduled carriers on Sunday was above 90 per cent. However, On Time Performance (OTP) of the airlines has been impacted in recent days due to various factors including the dense smog at airports in the north, especially New Delhi. Flights have had to be delayed as visibility has been low in the morning hours.

On Sunday, the OTP of IndiGo was at 74.2 per cent, followed by Alliance Air at 71 per cent and Akasa Air at 67.6 per cent. SpiceJet and Air India recorded a poorer performance with the OTP at 66.1 per cent and 57.1 per cent, respectively.

In October, aviation watchdog DGCA said Indian airlines will operate 25,007 flights every week to and from 124 airports in the winter schedule that started from October 27. The number of flights has gone up by 5.37 per cent compared to the winter schedule of 2023.

DGCA figures show that IndiGo's market share further increased to 63 per cent in September, while Air India climbed to 15 per cent, Akasa Air was at 4.4 per cent, and SpiceJet dropped to 2 per cent. Domestic air passenger traffic rose 6 per cent to 13 million in September. On the other hand, domestic carriers flew 1.30 crore passengers as compared to 1.22 crore passengers, up 6.38 per cent year-on-year.