Even though we didn’t win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 trophy, but the event has definitely given a boost to the air traffic in the country, as the number of people taking flights reached its highest at 460,000 on a single day, as per a media report.
How Did This Happen?
The news comes a week after Diwali, which recorded low daily flier numbers at under 400,000.
According to the Industry experts, the airlines were expecting very high traffic, and to make the most of the situation, airlines set high fares more than a month before Diwali.
The rise in the prices resulted in air traffic going down, as per the information provided by the experts.
Due to the high fares, the travelers resorted towards premium AC trains.
“A historic milestone for the Indian aviation sector! On November 18, we set a new record by carrying 456,748 domestic passengers,” said Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia posted on X, formerly Twitter, while Expressing his thoughts on the milestone of the highest-ever single-day air traffic.
It appears that the commercial capital of the country, Mumbai Airport saw its highest-ever one-day traffic on Saturday, November 18.
While calling it a historic achievement, Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani posted on X that it is a significant milestone for a single-runway airport serving a record-breaking 161,760 passengers in a single day.
One shouldn’t forget that this rise in air traffic comes after November registered muted domestic air traffic, which is uncommon for a festive period.
Why Would This Happen?
It appears that the airline operators had hiked advance booking fares since September-end, said an airline veteran.
This has further led to a large number of people avoiding taking flights.
Instead of that they booked AC class tickets for premium trains.
When the actual peak travel season arrived, airlines realized the low traffic and lowered fares.
This seems to be just opposite of the usual where they keep lower fares in advance and higher spot fares, said the expert.
Saturday’s surge was due to the return traffic, Chhath puja, and the ICC Cricket World Cup final, said Aviation analyst Ameya Joshi while talking about the surge in Saturday’s air traffic.
Further adding that at 7.24 million, the total number of domestic flyers in the first 18 days of November is less than 7.34 million, recorded during the first 18 days of October.
