India air travel rises, continues to defy global trend

Tops domestic air travel with 26.2% growth in July, says IATA

India continues to buck the global trend in domestic air travel with 26.2 per cent traffic growth in July, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Globally, domestic travel demand climbed 3.8 per cent in July, compared to the same month last year, its slowest pace in 19 months, IATA said, adding China and India are booming, while more mature markets are stuck in neutral, and Brazil and Russia are sliding backwards.

Globally, domestic capacity climbed 3.7 per cent and load factor rose 0.1 percentage point to 84 per cent.

India outperformed all the other markets in both capacity (20.5 per cent year-on-year, or y-o-y, growth) and 26.2 per cent traffic growth, on the back of increase in flights and low fares. Indian airlines recorded 84.5 per cent load factor, with a 3.9 per cent y-o-y growth in occupancy. Airlines in the US and Russia however, fared better than their Indian counterparts in load factors.

IATA said passenger growth in India was propelled by strong growth in consumer spending. Another reason for growth was the increase in frequencies and routes, which cuts journey time for passengers and has the same effect on demand as large cut in fares, IATA said.

China was the second-fastest growing domestic market, with 10.2 per cent traffic growth and 9.7 per cent capacity growth on a y-o-y basis.

India was the fastest-growing domestic air travel market in 2015, with 18.8 per cent traffic growth on a y-o-y basis.

With annual growth of 18.8 per cent in 2015 (in a market of 80 million domestic passengers), India’s performance, in terms of growth, surpassed Russia’s (11.9 per cent growth, in a market of 47 million domestic passengers), China (9.7 per cent growth, in a market of 394 million domestic passengers) and the US (5.4 per cent growth, in a market of 708 million domestic passengers), IATA had said in July.

TAKE WING

• India was the fastest-growing domestic air travel market in 2015, with 18.8% traffic growth on a y-o-y basis
   
• China was the second-fastest growing domestic market, with 10.2% traffic growth and 9.7% capacity growth on a y-o-y basis
   
• IATA said passenger growth in India was propelled by strong growth in consumer spending. Another reason for growth was the increase in frequencies and routes