Edition 26
As we head into the last few days of this month, quarter and the year; the average domestic passengers per day stood at 4.45 lakh per day in India. For the first three weeks of the month, the traffic is at its highest ever mark. How did the travel change suddenly from the first few days of Diwali holidays to the last few days of Diwali holidays?
Prima facie, it looks like airlines were expecting a bumper harvest and in anticipation kept the fares high. This led to the passengers turning their back towards the airlines and either opting for other modes of transport or cancelling the holidays. The emptier flights and low forward loads led to one airline after another dropping the ball, silently. The public sales and possible private fares led to a sudden surge in demand. Driven by the Cricket world cup weekend, sale fares and marriage season, yet November saw less traffic than the November of 2019!
As we entered December, there were selective “sale fares” available and fares were much more in control leading up to the travel date than what they were just a month ago. The end result? High load factors, since the capacity is constrained and a healthy passenger number average irrespective of day of the week. As we get into the last week of the year and the peakest of peaks in travel, this is a constant reminder to everyone who is worried about Indian aviation entering a duopoly environment. The passenger is the ultimate king – be it monopoly or duopoly and has voted with his or her wallet by simply not flying which pushed airlines to recalibrate the revenue management strategy. Irrespective of this, the airlines are expected to make money this quarter but we will know only in late January or early February.
For airlines, was it a case of Once bitten, twice shy? I believe so. Here’s wishing everyone happy and safe travels in the last week of the year!
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