The ongoing tension between America and Iran has affected air travel in the month of April. There was disruption in international flights. Whereas global trade has also been affected by this, due to which the economic activities of many countries are being affected.
Recent data from OAG shows that the country’s total aviation capacity, including domestic and international, has registered a slight decline in the month of April. This decrease was about 0.2 percent. The major reason for this decline is the sharp reduction in the capacity of international flights, which reached about 7.9 percent. Weak demand in West Asia is considered to be the main reason behind this. Although the capacity of domestic flights increased by 3.4 percent, this increase could not compensate for the decrease at the international level.
But during this period, due to increase in the prices of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), domestic airfares have also increased. This increase in fares may have an impact on passenger demand. There is a possibility that the number of journeys will be affected in future.
There has been a decline in the total seat capacity of airlines in the month of April. A total of 73.6 lakh seats were available during this period, including international and domestic flights. Which is less than 79 lakh seats in April last year. According to statistics, this time the share of international flights in the total seat capacity has come down to 30 percent. Whereas in the same period last year this share was 32 percent. From which it is clear that the reduction in the international segment has had an impact on the total capacity.
The total seat capacity of airlines declined to 73.6 lakh in April, which is less than 79 lakh in the same month last year. During this period, the share of international flights also decreased to 30 percent, whereas last year it was 32 percent.
Companies postponing expansion plans
The impact of the global crisis is clearly visible on aviation companies, due to which they are reducing seat capacity and postponing expansion plans.
- -IndiGo offered 1.25 crore seats in April, which is only 1% more than last year.
- -Air India Express made a major cut of 10.90% in its seat capacity in April, which came down to 25 lakh seats.
- -Air India has also reduced its total seat capacity by 6.20%.
- -These two companies account for 24% of India’s total aviation capacity, but together they reduced about 5 lakh seats in April, which is an 8% decline on an annual basis.
- -On the other hand, Akasa has increased its seat capacity by 2.6%.
- -Emirates also increased marginally by 0.30%, taking its total seat capacity to 5.31 lakh (531,572).
- -The India-UAE route is ranked 11th in the top-20 globally, but the seat capacity on this route decreased by 20% in April.
- -A decrease of 4.73 lakh seats has been recorded on this route as compared to last year.