India's domestic air passenger traffic up 11.3 pc at 148.8 lakh in March, outlook stable

For FY25 (April 2024-March 2025), the domestic air passenger traffic was 1,657.1 lakh, a YoY growth of 7.8 per cent and 17.1 per cent higher than the pre-Covid level of 1,415.6 lakh in FY20, according to a report by credit rating agency ICRA.

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 FY26, it added.

In the 11 months of FY25, the international passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 309.5 lakh with a YoY growth of 14.6 per cent -- higher than the pre-Covid level of 218.1 lakh by 41.9 per cent.

According to the report, the airlines’ capacity deployment in March 2025 was higher than March 2024 by 8.5 per cent and 10.7 per cent over February 2025.

This was in line with ICRA’s estimates of 7-10 per cent YoY growth for FY25. It is estimated that the domestic aviation industry operated at a passenger load factor (PLF) of 88.2 per cent in March 2025, against 86.0 per cent in March 2024, and 87.0 per cent for FY25 -- against 88.0 per cent in FY24.

From April 2024-March 2025, the ATF prices were lower on a YoY basis in the months of April, June, September, October, January and March 2025, resulting in average ATF prices in FY25 being lower by 8 per cent on a YoY basis.

The ATF prices further declined in April 2025 by 6.1 per cent sequentially and remained lower by 12.9 per cent on YoY basis, the report mentioned.

“The airlines’ efforts to effect fare hikes, proportionate to their input cost increase, will be the key to expand their profit margins,” it added.