India Daily Domestic Passengers Tops 400,000 For The First Time Since The Pandemic

Simple Flying

By Pranjal Pande

Published Apr 21, 2022

After two years of tough conditions, India's domestic market is finally approaching pre-pandemic daily numbers.

Photo: Getty Images

Exactly two years and one month after India suspended all domestic flights, the country has reached pre-pandemic traffic levels again. On April 17th, 407,900 passengers took to the skies within the country, returning to 2019 figures and signaling that the long-delayed recovery is finally here.

At long last for airlines

Indian airlines have faced several setbacks since domestic flights restarted in May 2020, ranging from the government's decision to control capacity and ticket prices (this is still in effect) to waves of COVID that saw revenues plummet. The latest blow came in January due to the Omicron wave.

However, today, it seems that the domestic aviation industry is back on track. On Friday, April 17th, India recorded 407,975 passengers, buoyed by mass holiday travel over the Easter long weekend. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia spoke about the occasion the same day, telling ANI,

"It was a very difficult time in the previous years due to the Covid pandemic. We have seen over 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9 lakh passengers in a day over the last 10 days. I'm confident that travelling -- both domestically and internationally, in India is coming back strong."

The fare cap remains the last vessage of pandemic-era government control on aviation. Photo: Gaurav Joshi | Simple Flying

This daily number dropped slightly to 398,300 the next day and is now averaging closer to 350,000 passengers on a daily basis. However, cracking the 400,000-traveler ceiling reminds airlines that the 2019 average of 425,000 passengers is achievable even in a vastly different market than before.

Cases rising again

However, celebrations might be short-lived at airlines headquarters in India. The last two weeks have seen a sharp rise in positive cases across the country, especially in major cities such as New Delhi. This is likely due to the BA.2 variant, which is causing a rise in Europe and the US as well, and its impact on traffic is yet to be understood.

However, the hope is that BA.2 will fade away as quickly as omicron and allow airlines to bounce back ahead of the busy summer season. This will be particularly important for international travel from India, facing its first real season since 2019, as carriers rapidly add flights in the last month.

Foreign carriers are offering record flights out of India to get tourists moving once again. Photo: Getty Images

For now, all eyes will be on how airline traffic is hit by the rise in cases. Hopefully, any change is temporary, and the 400,000-mark will become more familiar than an outlier in the data.

Airlines are ready

For Indian carriers, capacity is already set to go. IndiGo recently picked up the title of the world's sixth-largest airline by capacity, with frequencies in March up 14.7% compared to 2019. With foreign traffic opening up too, options are no longer a problem for anyone. Air India has also ramped up operations since the Tata takeover in January, with 16% more services planned this summer compared to last year.

What do you think about India's domestic market recovery? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Economic Times