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Domestic air passenger traffic sequentially grew by 56-57 per cent at around 48-49 lakh in July, ratings agency ICRA said.

The domestic air passenger traffic stood at 31.1 lakh in June 2021.

According to the ratings agency, the growth on YoY basis was 132 per cent.

Besides, the airlines' capacity deployment for July 2021 was around 90 per cent higher than July 2020.

On a sequential basis, the agency said that the number of departures in July 2021 were higher by 49 per cent, as Covid-19 infections demonstrated a downward trajectory.

"The average number of passengers per flight during July 2021 was 104, against an average of 98 passengers per flight in June 2021," said Kinjal Shah, Vice President & Co-Group Head, ICRA.

"Though the recovery continued in July 2021, there is continued stress on demand, driven largely by the second wave of the pandemic, limiting travel to only necessary travel, while both leisure and business travel have been curtailed due to various statewide restrictions, despite the decline in infections."

In addition, the agency, said that in August 2021, the ATF prices have been higher by 55.3 per cent on a YoY basis, attributed to the low base of August 2020, when the prices declined YoY by 30.5 per cent due to the impact of the pandemic.