India loses out to China to become world's 2nd fastest growing aviation mkt

Demand in neighbouring country spurred by an increase in the number of domestic routes

Losing the top position to neighbouring China, India became the world's second fastest growing domestic aviation market in July, according to global airlines' body IATA.

"China tops the domestic chart for just the 2nd time in 28 months, but the upward trend in India has picked up," the IATA said on Wednesday, while adding that passenger demand remains on course to grow solidly this year as a whole.

In July, India registered a growth of 12.5 per cent whereas Chinese market grew 15 per cent during the same period. It is measured in RPK (Revenue Passenger Kilometres) -- an indicator of demand.

"Year-on-year growth in domestic India RPKs slowed to 12.5 per cent in July - its slowest pace since November 2014. That said, a very strong month-on-month increase in seasonally-adjusted RPKs in July meant that annual RPK growth managed to remain in double digits for the 35th consecutive month," IATA said.

While the growth seems to have slowed in the opening months of 2017, the International Airport Transport Association (IATA) said the strong upward seasonally-adjusted traffic trend looks to have reasserted itself in recent months.

"As is the case in China, demand continues to be stimulated by a sizeable increase in the number of domestic routes served," it added.

Globally, IATA said the easing in the seasonally-adjusted industry-wide RPK trend also reflects a reduced degree of stimulus to demand from lower airfares.

"All told, the strong first half of the year and the robust start to the peak summer period means that 2017 is on course to be another year of above-trend RPK growth.

"However, the moderation in demand drivers suggests that the upward trend in H2 2017 and into 2018 is likely to be somewhat weaker than was seen in the same period of 2016," it said.