New Delhi, April 2 -- New Delhi: Indian airlines carried 1.4 crore domestic passengers in February, down from 1.5 crore in January but unchanged from a year earlier, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday, as capacity constraints and softer demand weighed on growth.

Industry experts said lower aircraft availability and weaker travel sentiment weighed on domestic air passenger traffic during the month.

"Travel sentiments have been weaker in February this time. Numbers still do not reflect the impact of the Middle East war. There were fewer planes since some of the carriers had not restored their schedule," said CA Ranganathan, former member of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council,...