Indian aviation companies flew 78.72 lakh (7.87 million) passengers during March 2016, 25 percent more than 62.85 lakh (6.28 million) flown in March 2015 and 74.76 lakh (7.47 million) in February 2016. Indigo (owned by Interglobe Aviation) improved its market share while other carriers including Jet Airways, Air India and SpiceJet saw a fall, according to data provided by Indian civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday.

IndiGo increases market share; Jet, Air India, SpiceJet lose

India's largest air carrier Indigo increased its market share to 38.4 percent in March from 36.8 percent in the previous month. Jet Airways saw its share reduce to 17.6 percent during the month from 18.4 percent in the preceding month.

Similarly, SpiceJet's market share declined to 12.8 percent from 13.1 percent in February 2016. State-owned carrier Air India also witnessed a fall in March this year to 14.7 percent from 15.4 percent in February 2016.

Smaller carriers such as AirAsia India, Vistara, Go Air and Air Costa either retained their market share or saw a marginal decline. Go Air's share rose to 8.3 percent from 8 percent in February, while AirAsia India and Vistara retained their share of 2.2 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

Passenger load factor 

SpiceJet maintained a passenger load factor of above 90 percent for the third straight month in March, though it declined during the month when compared to the earlier two months. The fall in passenger load factor was across all the aviation companies.

Three-month trend

During the first three months this year (January to March), Indian aviation companies carried flew 230.03 lakh (23 million) passengers, 24 percent more from 185.46 lakh (18.5 million) during the corresponding period last year, according to the DGCA data.

The data was released shortly before trading closed on stock exchanges. The share price of Interglobe Aviation, SpiceJet and Jet Airways dropped in the range of 1.2 to 2.3 percent on Thursday on the BSE.