Domestic air traffic growth grew a mere 0.14% year-on-year in March — its slowest in at least five years — owing to big-time grounding of aircraft by Jet Airways and also some by SpiceJet along with cancellation of flights by IndiGo owing to pilot shortage.
The passenger count remained flat with 11.59 million passengers flown by domestic airlines last month compared with 11.58 million carried during March 2018, according to the monthly passenger data released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday.
Cash-strapped Jet Airways, which announced temporary suspension of all operations on April 17, grounded several aircraft last month owing to non-payment of lease rentals, while SpiceJet was forced to pull down 12 Boeing 737 MAX planes from its fleet over safety concerns on March 12.
