Domestic air travel in India continues to grow, with passenger traffic reaching nearly 15 million in January 2025. According to an ICRA report, passenger traffic increased by 0.7 percent in December 2024 over the last year and registered a growth of 14.4 percent year-on-year from January 2024. This is good news for the domestic aviation sector.
Moreover, the January 2025 figures are 17.9% higher than the pre-Covid levels of January 2020. Domestic air passenger traffic in the first 10 months of FY25 (April 2024 to January 2025) stood at 1,372.1 lakh, an annual growth of 7.5% and 13% over FY20. International air passenger traffic has also seen strong growth over the past few years, with Indian airlines carrying 248.9 lakh passengers to their destinations in the first nine months of FY25. This annual growth is 14.5% and 41.7% over pre-Covid data.
Airlines increased their capacity in January 2025 compared to January 2024 by 10.8%. However, this was 1.2% less than December 2024. The domestic aviation sector recorded a passenger load factor of 92.1% in January 2025, up from 89.2% in January 2024 and 85% in January 2020.
Impact Of Fuel Prices On Airlines
The report highlights the growth in India’s aviation sector, with fuel prices considered an important factor. Fuel prices provide some relief to airlines. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices were up 5.3% in annual growth during April-July 2024 but down 14.7% in annual growth from August 2024 to February 2025. From April 2024 to February 2025, ATF prices were 8.1% lower than in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
