The total number of riders carried by domestic carriers grew by 20.9 per cent during the first three month of the existing year to 14.3 million, with Jet Airways registering the highest market share amongst Indian airlines.

Jet Airways and its budget section, Jetlite, posted a joint market share of 25.4% during the last month, with Kingfisher Airlines moving into second position with 19.9% share.

Budget carrier IndiGo rated third with 19.5%during the same period.

Seat factors for the last month, typically a lean season for carriers, declined for all six major carriers.

Jet Airways witnessed its seat factor during March dropping to 69.2% as against 76.5% during the month of February, whilst JetLite saw it fall to 76.7% as against 80.2%.

Seat factor for Kingfisher dropped in sequence to 80.4% as compared to 83.6%, whereas SpiceJet witnessed loads diminishing to 75.4% as against 81%.