Domestic air passenger traffic up 59% in FY22, 40% lower than pre-pandemic level: Icra

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Domestic departures logged 42 percent growth in March this year over the previous month, driven by increased pace of vaccination and rapid abatement of the third wave of COVID-19, which allowed for quick lifting of travel restrictions, the ratings agency said.

"Domestic passenger traffic for FY2022 is estimated at around 84 million, y-o-y growth of 59 percent, marginally higher than our estimate of 80-82 million, although it is around 40 percent lower than pre-COVID levels,” Vice President and Sector Head of Icra Suprio Banerjee said. For March this year, the average daily departures were at around 2,588, higher than the average daily departures of around 2,308 in March 2021, and notably higher compared to around 2,023 in February 2022, he said.

The average number of passengers per flight during March this year was at 132, against an average of 135 passengers per flight in February, Banerjee said. According to Icra, one major positive development is resumption of scheduled international operations from March 27 after a hiatus of almost two years.

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ATF prices have surged by around 93 percent year-on-year in April this year, given the elevated crude oil prices, geo-political issues arising from Russian-Ukraine war, the ratings agency said. The rising ATF prices continue to play a spoilsport for the industry and will pose a serious threat to the sector's earnings in FY23, it said.