New Delhi, Oct 8 (IANS): Domestic air passenger traffic reached nearly 132.3 lakh in the month of September, up by 0.8 per cent compared to 131.3 lakh in August, a report showed on Tuesday.

The domestic passenger traffic data witnessed a year-on-year growth of 8.1 per cent, compared to 122.5 lakh in September last year, as per data by credit rating agency ICRA.

For the first half of current fiscal (FY25), domestic air passenger traffic was 795.5 lakh, a YoY growth of 5.6 per cent and 12.9 per cent higher than the pre-Covid level of 704.4 lakh in H1 FY2020.

In the first five month of FY25, the international passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 135.9 lakh, with a YoY growth of 15.7 per cent and higher than the pre-Covid level of 92.2 lakh by 48.7 per cent.

The International passenger traffic for Indian carriers is expected to grow by 15-20 per cent in FY25.

“The outlook for the Indian aviation industry remains stable, driven by expectations of moderate growth in domestic air passenger traffic and a relatively stable cost environment in FY25,” said the report.

Moreover, the industry witnessed improved pricing power, reflected in the higher yields (over pre-Covid levels) and, thus, the revenue per available seat kilometre–cost per available seat kilometre (RASK–CASK) spread of the airlines.

The momentum in the air passenger traffic witnessed in FY24 is likely to marginally taper down to 7-10 per cent in FY25 (compared to 13 per cent in FY24), given the high base of FY24 and lower passenger traffic in Q1 FY2025, impacted by severe heat waves and other weather-related disruptions.

The airlines’ capacity deployment in September was higher than last year, by 7.3 per cent but lower by 1.7 per cent over August 2024.

“It is estimated that the domestic aviation industry operated at a passenger load factor (PLF) of 86.2 per cent in September, against 85.6 per cent in September 2023,” the report noted.