ICRA, the credit rating agency has released a report indicating that India’s domestic air passenger traffic had picked up pace in November 2021 with growth of 15 to 16 per cent as the Covid-19 infection dipped across the country. Compared to last year, the growth was further fuelled by festive demand.
According to the data, the average daily departures in November 2021 were at 2,700, significantly higher than the average daily departures of 1,806 in November 2020. The numbers were on a higher side even on a month-on-month growth basis with 300 more daily flight departures as compared to 2,400 in October 2021. The average number of passengers per flight during November 2021 was close to 129, against 125 passengers per flight in October 2021
The domestic air passenger traffic was recorded at 89.85 lakh in October 2021 thus reflecting year-on-year growth of around 64 per cent. The airlines’ capacity deployment for November 2021 was around 49 per cent higher than November 2020 (80,750 departures in November 2021 against 54,132 departures in November 2020). The number of departures in November 2021 was higher by 12 per cent, as Covid-19 infections demonstrated a downward trajectory.
Commenting on the development, Suprio Banerjee, Vice President & Sector Head, ICRA, said, “Though the recovery continued in November 2021, demand continues to be subdued from the corporate traveller segment as reflected by the passenger traffic being lower by 19 per cent in November 2021 compared to pre-Covid levels. Moreover, the threat of new variant Omicron, which has pushed the resumption of scheduled international operations, has the potential to derail the domestic recovery too, if it becomes a source of a fresh round of lockdowns or restrictions in the near term.”
ICRA also stated that one major concern that continues to worry the aviation sector is the ATF prices,which have seen a sharp increase of 67.3 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis till December 2021, this is mainly attributed to the increase in crude oil prices. “This, coupled with relatively low-capacity utilisation of aircraft fleet, will continue to weigh on the financial performance of Indian carriers in FY2022. Furthermore, the credit profile of most Indian carriers continues to be characterised by a weak liquidity position. For November 2021, international passenger traffic for Indian carriers under the Vande Bharat Mission was estimated at 6.1 lakh with sequential growth of around 15 per cent.
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