About 4.82 lakh passengers were affected due to delayed flights (beyond two hours) in January this year, forcing the airlines to pay out Rs 3.69 crore towards facilitation, according to the DGCA monthly traffic data released on Thursday.
Despite these delays, domestic passenger traffic witnessed a growth of 4.69 per cent compared to January of the previous year, reaching 1.31 crore passengers. This marked an increase from 1.25 crore passengers recorded in January 2023.
In addition to delays, airlines also encountered instances where 1,374 passengers were denied boarding, resulting in a compensation payout of Rs 1.28 crore, which included alternative flight arrangements, accommodation, and refreshments.
Furthermore, airlines had to allocate Rs 1.43 crore for refunding and re-booking flights for 68,362 passengers affected by cancellations during the month.
IndiGo, a prominent no-frills carrier, dominated the domestic passenger market share in January 2024, accounting for 60.2 per cent with 79.09 lakh passengers. Following behind was Air India, with a market share of 12.2 per cent, serving 15.97 lakh passengers during the same period.
Complaints received by scheduled domestic airlines totaled 732 in January 2024. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers stood at approximately 0.56, attributed to various reasons. Flight-related issues accounted for 54.8 per cent of the complaints, while 17.8 per cent were related to refunds. Baggage-related issues and staff behaviour constituted 10.4 per cent and 4.7 per cent of the complaints, respectively.
Notably, Akasa Air, operational since August 2022, boasted the highest on-time performance among the four key metro airports—Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad—with an average of 71.8 per cent of its flights arriving and departing punctually.
(With PTI inputs)
