Airlines carried 9.07 million passengers in July compared to 10.5 million in June, registering a decline of 7.6% in passenger traffic, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a report released on Thursday.
DGCA director general Arun Kumar said they expect a speedy recovery in passenger numbers and foresee traffic reaching the pre-Covid levels in the fourth quarter of the year with the removal of the fare cap from September 1.
The airlines recorded passenger traffic of 12 million in May, 11 million in April, and 10.6 million in March. The DGCA report said the domestic airlines carried 66.95 million passengers from January to July compared to 39.34 million during the corresponding period in 2021, registering an annual growth of 70.18%.