Domestic air passenger traffic remains muted during March

Indian domestic air passenger traffic remained flat during March, as compared to the previous month, due to the rising number of covid-19 infections and resulting travel restrictions imposed by states across the country.

As many as 7.83 million passengers travelled by air in March, similar to the previous months, data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) published on Tuesday showed. However, this is still 38.13% below the numbers of March 2020.

About 7.83 million domestic passengers traveled during February, up from 7.73 million in January, according to DGCA data.

The passenger load factor (PLF) of major scheduled commercial airlines was 64-79% in March, around the same levels recorded in the previous month but way below the 63-84% in the same period of 2020.