Air passenger traffic may witness 30 pc negative growth this fiscal: CARE Ratings

Air passenger traffic is expected to log a 30 per cent negative growth during this fiscal from earlier estimate of a 20-25 per cent negative growth amid coronavirus pandemic, ratings agency CARE Ratings said on Tuesday.

The agency also expects the airfare to rise in the wake of the social distancing norms.

All domestic and international commercial passenger flights are suspended since March 25 for the lockdown till May 3, as of now.

"CARE Ratings earlier had given a call of negative 20-25 per cent growth during FY21 in terms of airlines passenger growth rate, but given the increase in cases, its rapid spread and with more undetected clusters getting converted into corona hotspots, the tenacity of the end of the pandemic is uncertain and is showing no signs of abating," the agency said in a note.

Noting that even as a vaccine is yet to be found, lockdowns remain the only way to slow its spread, CARE Ratings said, "we would be revising our earlier estimate and bringing it further down to a negative 30 per cent growth in air passenger traffic during FY21."