By Staff Correspondent
Indian air travel saw a significant rebound in February, with a surprisingly robust performance during one of the industry’s typically slowest periods. According to industry reports, corporate travel and demand from events such as the recent G20 meetings and Aero India were significant drivers behind the surge. Daily domestic air passenger numbers in India reached approximately 420,000 in February, up from 410,000 in December.
Notably, this is a higher average daily passenger count than during the festival months of October and November, which saw 370,000 and 390,000 passengers, respectively.
In February, domestic air passenger traffic surpassed the post-COVID record achieved in December, reaching new highs. The highest numbers were recorded on 19 February and 12 February, with 444,845 and 437,800 passengers, respectively, surpassing the previous high of 435,500 passengers on 24 December.
Leading travel portals such as Ixigo have also reported a 15-20% month-on-month increase in flight searches and bookings to popular business centres like Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai, indicating a growing demand for air travel. In addition, the ongoing wedding season has brought in leisure travellers.
“India is still seeing a huge pent-up demand for domestic travel. While the last quarter was dominated by the festive rush and leisure holidays, this year, corporate travel has picked up the pace, especially in January and February, which saw maximum conferences and events happening,” said Rajnish Kumar, co-founder and group chief product and technology officer, Ixigo in a media report.
This increase in demand for air travel is also reflected in the number of daily flight departures in India, which has surpassed 3,000 for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. The highest number of post-pandemic flight departures was recorded on 19 February, at 3,037.
Despite the surge in demand, travel portals and analysts have noted that airfares have remained firm, albeit slightly softened from the peak in December. The rise in input costs has led to a 30-40% increase in airfares since the pandemic, but this has yet to deter travellers.
In response to increased demand, airlines have been deploying more capacity, which has led to better financials for airlines that have recorded better financials. JM Financial Institutional Securities Limited predicts that the sector will fare much better than in the recent past, given recent gains of the festive season, sharper recent demand comeback, and relatively stable crude and the rupee.
