Domestic air traffic received a fillip in April 09, with 1.55 lakh more passengers flying than in the previous month. According to the latest data released by the civil aviation ministry, the domestic passenger traffic picked up marginally, having reported a 12 per cent fall in the first three months of calendar year 2009.
The Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines and its low-cost arm Kingfisher Red led the pack, flying 8.61 lakh passengers, almost 26 per cent of the total domestic traffic. That was followed by Jet Airways and JetLite — flying 7.96 lakh, cornering 24.1 per cent of traffic — and Air India (domestic) with 5.83 lakh flyers, getting a 17.6 per cent share. The total number of domestic passengers carried by scheduled domestic carriers in April was 33.15 lakh, compared with 31.60 lakh a month ago. Among low-cost carriers, IndiGo flew 4.54 lakh air travellers, followed by 3.87 lakh of SpiceJet and 1.45 lakh of GoAir. The all-business class airline Paramount Airways carried 0.75 lakh passengers.
Low-cost carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet wrestled 13.7 and 11.7 per cent of the total traffic. GoAir cornered 4.4 per cent and Paramount 2.3 per cent, the figures showed.
The highest seat factor for domestic airlines in April was bagged by Paramount, which had 88.5 per cent of its aircraft seats full on average.
No-frill carriers IndiGo and GoAir recorded a high of 72.1 and 72 per cent, JetLite 68.7, SpiceJet 68 and Jet Airways 65 per cent. Kingfisher registered a 64.2 per cent seat factor and Air India (Domestic) 59.9 per cent. Low seat factor, reflecting a low demand for air travel, has been a major cause of concern for the aviation industry worldwide, including in India.
Despite low promotional fares, the number of passengers travelling, which had grown at a high pace of 20 to 25 per cent, has slumped in the past several months ever since the slowdown hit the industry.
Domestic air travel between January and March this year had registered a negative growth of 11.69 per cent, compared to that in the same period last year.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
AIR FRANCE: RACIAL PROFILING?
Tue, May 12 11:29 AM
Mumbai, May 12 (PTI) Over 50 Indian passengers flying Air France had a "harrowing" time at Paris airport after their aircraft developed a technical problem and complained today on reaching here that they were victims of "racial" profiling. The passengers, who spent 28 hours in Paris, said they were confined to a lounge at the airport there from 10 pm on Sunday till 7 am the next morning and given "hardly any food and water".
The passengers, on their way to Mumbai from the US via Paris, said while the foreigners were taken to hotels shortly after their plane returned to the Paris airport due to apparent technical problem following a four-hour flight, they were taken to the lounge and given just a bottle of water and a sandwich. Giving details of their "harrowing" time, one of the travellers, Vineeta Sengupta said, "No foreigner would have been treated like the way we were treated.
People were lying down on the floor over there (at a place at the airport) where immigration takes place". Accusing Air France of "racial" profiling, a girl passenger said that the officials there even had threatened that they would be handed over to the police if they did not stop protesting.
Sengupta said the 53 to 54 Indian passengers were later "huddled out" of the airport on a "group visa", which the authorities could have provided much earlier, and taken to a hotel. No reason has officially been given for the delay.
PTI.
Mumbai, May 12 (PTI) Over 50 Indian passengers flying Air France had a "harrowing" time at Paris airport after their aircraft developed a technical problem and complained today on reaching here that they were victims of "racial" profiling. The passengers, who spent 28 hours in Paris, said they were confined to a lounge at the airport there from 10 pm on Sunday till 7 am the next morning and given "hardly any food and water".
The passengers, on their way to Mumbai from the US via Paris, said while the foreigners were taken to hotels shortly after their plane returned to the Paris airport due to apparent technical problem following a four-hour flight, they were taken to the lounge and given just a bottle of water and a sandwich. Giving details of their "harrowing" time, one of the travellers, Vineeta Sengupta said, "No foreigner would have been treated like the way we were treated.
People were lying down on the floor over there (at a place at the airport) where immigration takes place". Accusing Air France of "racial" profiling, a girl passenger said that the officials there even had threatened that they would be handed over to the police if they did not stop protesting.
Sengupta said the 53 to 54 Indian passengers were later "huddled out" of the airport on a "group visa", which the authorities could have provided much earlier, and taken to a hotel. No reason has officially been given for the delay.
PTI.
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