Domestic airlines carried 10 crore passengers in 2016, 23% more than last year

India’s domestic air passenger traffic grew by 23.18 percent in 2016, with airlines carrying almost 10 crore passengers within the country, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

“Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-December 2016 were 998.88 lakh as against 810.91 lakh during the corresponding period of previous year, thereby registering a growth of 23.18 percent,” the DGCA said in its statistical analysis for last month.

According to the data furnished by the DGCA, domestic air passenger traffic increased by 23.91 percent during December to 95.52 lakh from 77.09 lakh reported during the corresponding month of last year.

In November 2016, the passenger traffic had risen by 22.45 per cent to 89.66 lakh.

One of the biggest factors contributing to the growth of air passenger traffic was lower fares.

The reduction in costs, thanks to the dip in the price of turbine fuel, allowed airlines to offer fares that were around 14 percent lower than last year. The cost of fuel accounts for roughly 40 percent of the total cost of operating a flight.

Low cost airline, IndiGo, continued its run as the biggest player in the domestic market. Its market share rose to 39.3 percent, a growth of 2.6 percent over last year.

Overall, 63.82 percent of all passengers flew using low-cost airlines like IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet, up from 59.7 percent in 2015.

While full service airlines like Air India and Jet Airways witnessed a decline in passenger share in 2016, new airlines like Vistara and AirAsia saw their market share climb to 2.5 and 2.4 percent respectively.

According to Civil aviation secretary R.N. Choubey, the number of domestic flyers is expected to cross 30 crore by 2022.