Jet closure shadow: Just 1% more domestic flights this winter

NEW DELHI: Call it the lingering Jet effect. With this big airline shut, the coming winter season will see only a marginal 1% increase in domestic connectivity compared to last winter – from 23,117 weekly domestic flights in 2018-19 to 23,403 this winter schedule that will be effective from October-end to March-end. Last winter (2018-19) had seen 22% more domestic flights than previous winter of 2017-18.
While Jet’s closure has impacted growth, airlines that took ex-Jet planes – SpiceJet and Vistara – and others have increased flights to ensure a recovery from that big collapse. With ex-Jet planes in their fleets, these two have added maximum domestic flights (percentage-wise) this winter.
“The schedule has been approved with existing fleet. We will add more flights as airlines induct more planes during the winter. Due to Jet’s collapse (this April), about 3,600 domestic departures per week have gone out of the system. Prompt steps by the government helped fill that void. If we do not count Jet, other airlines have added almost 20% weekly flights,” said a senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official.