Around 200 aircraft of domestic carriers are expected to be grounded by the end of the current financial year (31st March 2024), aviation consultancy firm Capa India has said in its mid-year outlook. More than 90 of them will be that of the country’s largest carrier IndiGo.
Air India is projected to have 25-30 grounded planes while SpiceJet's number of grounded aircraft will be around 27, said Capa in its report. Currently, there are 161-166 planes of IndiGo, Air India, Go First and SpiceJet that are on the ground.
Overall, the aviation sector is likely to have a fleet size of close to 790 aircraft by March 2024, of which 588 aircraft are likely to be operational, the aviation research firm said.
CAPA India also foresees delays in aircraft deliveries for India's youngest airline Akasa Air.
Earlier this month, IndiGo said that it is likely to ground about 35 more aircraft due to the powder metal issue on its Pratt & Whitney (P&W)-powered fleet. The airline had earlier informed that out of its fleet of 334 planes, the number of grounded PW-powered aircraft now stands at over 40.
Capa India in its report noted that In terms of the total number of flyers, the domestic and international passenger traffic for the current financial year is expected to be around 155 million and 70 million passengers, respectively.
Indian airports registered 57 million international passengers and the domestic air passenger traffic stood at 136 million passengers in FY 2022-23.