)
NEW DELHI:
Historically, March is a lean travel month with people beginning to move around in the peak holiday summer April-June quarter. But according to DGCA data, this March saw almost 1.29 crore domestic flyers – more than the number seen in peak travel months of October 2022 (1.14 crore), November (1.17 crore) and December (1.27 crore). In fact, this March is closest to the all-time monthly domestic air travel high of pre-Covid December 2019 at 1.3 crore.
The March 2023 figure, 21% higher than last March’s 1.06 crore, shows the rebound in travel has happened despite airfares being at record highs with over 100 Airbus A320 family aircraft of IndiGo and GoFirst being grounded for months due to Pratt & Whitney’s inability to supply engines and spares.
Sanjay Kumar, a veteran of Indian aviation who till recently was IndiGo’s chief strategy and revenue officer, said: “After early 2020, life is now getting back to normal. All forms of travel is back – holiday, work, visiting friends and relatives and MICE (meeting, incentive, conferences and exhibitions). This despite the fact that fares are up and capacity is constrained due to so many aircraft being grounded. We are getting into a very stable travel and revenue period. The coming April-June summer travel months will be the golden period for the travel industry.”
The two things to watch, Kumar added, will be oil prices and rupee-dollar exchange rate with currently both the things being in the reasonably comfortable zone. “RBI‘s decision not to hike interest rates has also provided relief and given a further boost to the travel sentiment,” he said.
if(typeof window !== ‘undefined’) {
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {};
const { TimesApps } = window;
TimesApps.loadScriptsOnceAdsReady = () => {
var scripts = [
‘https://static.clmbtech.com/ad/commons/js/2658/toi/colombia_v2.js’,
‘https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/grxpushnotification_js/minify-1,version-2.cms’,
‘https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/locateservice_js/minify-1,version-14.cms’
];
scripts.forEach(function(url) {
let script = document.createElement(‘script’);
script.type=”text/javascript”;
if(!false && !false && !false && url.indexOf(‘colombia_v2’)!== -1){
script.src = url;
} else if (!false && !false && !false && url.indexOf(‘sdkloader’)!== -1) {
script.src = url;
} else if (!false && (url.indexOf(‘tvid.in/sdk’) !== -1 || url.indexOf(‘connect.facebook.net’) !== -1 || url.indexOf(‘locateservice_js’) !== -1 )) {
script.src = url;
} else if (url.indexOf(‘colombia_v2’)== -1 && url.indexOf(‘sdkloader’)== -1 && url.indexOf(‘tvid.in/sdk’)== -1 && url.indexOf(‘connect.facebook.net’) == -1){
script.src = url;
}
script.async = true;
script.defer = true;
document.body.appendChild(script);
});
}
}
More News
Millennial, Gen Z homes spur Q-commerce growth – Times of India
HAI for industry, infrastructure status for hospitality sector to help attract more investments – Times of India
‘India has unexplored and unattended to opportunities,’ says Warren Buffet – Times of India