Airfares expected to rise 7-9% this fiscal, highest since 2013; limited capacity additions since Jet Airways was grounded: Crisil

Domestic passengers traffic is expected to grow 6-8% in FY20, as against a healthy 19% growth registered in the year ended March 2019 on account of non-revival of Jet Airways Mumbai: Air passengers are likely to shell out the highest fares for domestic travel this fiscal with the ticket prices expected to spike 7-9 percent during the period because of limited capacity additions since the grounding of Jet Airways, rating agency Crisil Research said on Wednesday. Crisil also forecasts domestic passengers traffic to grow 6-8 percent in FY20, as against a healthy 19 percent growth registered in the year ended March 2019, on account of non-revival of Jet Airways, which ceased all operations in April due to liquidity crisis and is now under insolvency proceedings. Even if Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which have been grounded globally since March following two fatal crashes, resumes operations post H1FY20, the domestic passenger traffic growth for the industry could grow faster by about 80-100 bps at best to 7-9 percent it said. The LCCs, led by a robust expansion of domestic capacity by SpiceJet and IndiGo, on their part are expected to post strong double-digit growth of 25-30 percent in passenger traffic for fiscal 2020, it said.