Air India Market Share Improves In October

Thursday, 20th November 2014 at 07:09am

The loss-making state flag carrier has seen an improvement in market share for the first time during the month of October this year, posting a 4% increase over the previous month.

The increase has pushed the airline back to the third position behind profit-making low-cost carriers, IndiGo and Jet Airways. The latest data was made available through Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The 4% growth earned for the airline a 19.5% market share, up from September's record of 16.6%. It also posted the highest load factor among local players, at 83.5%.

After its induction to the Star Alliance in July this year, Air India has embarked on an aggressive expansion program in its route network, mostly to European and Australian destinations. This route expansion program includes mostly long-haul routes to Europe and Australia such as Milan, Moscow, Rome, Melbourne, and Sydney. The launched routes were serviced by its brand-new fleet of Dreamliners.

The recent 4% growth it posted for the month of October was a huge improvement over the month of August when its share plummeted to 16.2%. It posted a slight improvement in the following month, cornering 16.6% of the domestic market.

All, but one, local airlines in India posted negative growth during the month of September. IndiGo's market share, currently the biggest in the country, went down to 31.9% in September from 32.8% in August. Jet Airways' share also slightly went down from 20.8% to 20.5% during September. Low-cost carrier, SpiceJet's share, also contracted by 1.3% decrease, from 18.6% in August to 17.3% in September. One-year old Air Costa, meanwhile, retained its share at 1.1%. Only AirAsia India posted an increase, albeit too small, in its market share during the period, up from 0.9% to 1.1%.

In October, Air India posted an average rate of 83.5% of its seat occupancy in each flight. SpiceJet followed with 80.1% and Air Costa with 78.1% at a third position. The seat occupancy rates for the rest of the local carriers hover between 73% and 76%. IndiGo posted a 76.8% seat occupancy rate during the period.

Overall, local carriers registered a cummulative 1.36% cancellation rate with IndiGo leading the pack. It was followed by Air Costa, Air India, GoAir, JetLite, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, and AirAsia India.

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