New Delhi:
Historically, March is a lean travel month, with peak travel Holiday Summer April-June quarter. But according to DGCA data, this March saw around 1.29 crore domestic passengers – higher than the numbers seen in the peak travel months of October 2022 (1.14 crore), November (1.17 crore) and December (1.27 crore). In fact, this March is the closest to the pre-Covid December 2019 all-time monthly domestic air travel of 13 million.
The March 2023 figure, up 21% from last March’s 1.06 crore, shows a return to travel despite airfares hitting a record high of over Rs 100. airbus IndiGo and GoFirst’s A320 family aircraft have been grounded for months due to Pratt & Whitney’s inability to supply engines and parts.
Sanjay KumarAn Indian aviation veteran, who was till recently the chief strategy and revenue officer of IndiGo, said: “After the start of 2020, life is now returning to normal. All forms of travel are back – holiday, work, friends and visiting relatives and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions). This is despite the fact that so many aircraft are grounded and capacity is constrained. We are coming into a very stable travel and revenue period May the coming summer travel months of April-June be the golden age for the travel industry.”
Kumar said the two things to watch would be oil prices and the rupee-dollar exchange rate, both of which are currently in a reasonably comfortable zone. ,reserve Bank of IndiaThe decision not to hike interest rates has also provided relief and further boosted travel sentiment.”