Shares of Interglobe Aviation and SpiceJet gained 3 percent each on November 19 after domestic air passenger traffic crossed 5 lakh in a single day for the first time. The surge came amid festive and wedding seasons as airlines carried over 5 lakh passengers on November 17 and flight departures stood at 3,173.

In an 'X' post, the Ministry of Civil Aviation hailed this historic milestone. "On November 17, 2024, Indian aviation marked a historic milestone as 5,05,412 domestic passengers flew in a single day, surpassing the remarkable 5-lakh passenger threshold. This reflects the sector’s rapid growth and the increasing trust of Indians in air travel’s accessibility and reliability," they posted.

In a recent note, Goldman Sachs maintained a "buy" rating on IndiGo and shared target price of Rs 4,800 per share. The October or November air traffic growth stood at 10 percent/11 percent. IndiGo's PLF was at 90 percent versus 85.6 percent last year.

"While yields are down YoY, given improved domestic traffic growth and higher PLFs, there could be upside to guidance," they added.

In the second quarter, IndiGo slipped back into red to Rs 986 net loss compared to net profit of Rs 189 crore. This was primarily caused by increased fuel expenses and a record number of groundings. The operator of low-cost airline's revenue from operations, however, surged 13.6 percent YoY to Rs 16,969.6 crore in Q2FY25.

According to DGCA, IndiGo's market share had increased to 63 percent in September, while Air India climbed to 15 percent, Akasa Air stood at 4.4 percent, and SpiceJet dropped to 2 percent. Domestic air passenger traffic rose 6 per cent to 13 million in September. On the other hand, domestic carriers flew 1.30 crore passengers as compared to 1.22 crore passengers, up 6.38 percent YoY.