India's domestic passenger market falls to 3.1% in March, says IATA

The growth of India's domestic passenger market fell to 3.1 per cent in March as compared to 8.3 per cent in February as there was "reduction in flight operations of Jet Airways" and "disruptions at Mumbai airport owing to construction", global airlines body IATA said Wednesday.

"Year-on-year RPK (revenue passenger kilometre) growth slowed substantially in the domestic India market this month, from 8.3 per cent in February, to 3.1 per cent currently," said the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

RPK is a measure of passenger volumes. The monthly passenger traffic figures are in comparison to traffic figures of the same month last year.

In India, over the past five years, annual growth has averaged a double-digit pace close to 20 per cent, the association said.

"The slowdown largely reflects the reduction in flight operations of Jet Airways -which stopped flying in April - as well as disruptions at Mumbai airport owing to construction," the IATA said.

"Rising airfares in recent months are also likely to have weighed upon passenger demand," it added.

The IATA represents around 290 airlines comprising 82 per cent of global air traffic.

The domestic passenger traffic in countries across the world increased by 4.1 per cent in March, according to the IATA.