The unprecedented turn of events that took place due to the Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on almost every industry that was based upon contact and the aviation industry was no exception. But now things seem to be turning a leaf as the world seems to be returning to a bit of normalcy. The travel restrictions around the globe are easing and passengers are becoming confident again to travel. The airline industry seems to be bouncing back but the new challenges lie ahead and it will be interesting to see what the future of the Indian airlines beholds.
The Improving Scenario of the Sector and a Few Challenges
Ronojoy Dutta in a recent interview said that there was a faster growth and much rapid improvement in the sector than what was expected. He added that the last quarter’s performance for Indigo was quite remarkable and he expects that the airline will perform even better in the current quarter. He made a remark that revenue and traffic are coming back.
Things are not only improving for Indigo but for the whole Indian airline industry. As reported earlier, the month of November has brought a big sigh of relief for the aviation sector of India as the country witnesses the daily domestic air traffic reach closer to what it was pre-covid.
On November 14, a total of 385,661 passengers departed from various destinations across the country. These numbers are the highest for a day ever since the flights resumed last year in May after the country went into lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During 2019, the average number of passengers traveling in the domestic territory in a day was about 400,000, and the air traffic on November 14 makes it almost 96% of what it was pre-covid.
In addition to the improving statistics, the competition in the industry is also on the rise as Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa airline is all set to debut next year. The airline also recently placed an order amounting to around $9 billion of 72 Boeing aircraft. Moreover, the acquisition of government-owned, in-debt airline – Air India by Tata Group is going to be a game-changer. With the acquisition of Air India will now have three major airlines under its belt as it already operates Vistara and AirAsia. The restoration of Air India as an airline without any financial burden will definitely impact the Indian aviation sector.
However, it’s not all rainbow for the airlines in the country as the rising prices of aviation fuel due to an increase in global crude oil demand is becoming a thing of concern for all the airlines. A surge of 94.4% has been seen on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) in the month of November as compared to the same time last year.
