Air Deccan sees 90-100% load factor

Air Deccan, Bangalore-based low cost airline, has recorded a 90-100 per cent load factor for the month of May. In the past seven days, most of the north and north-eastern cities saw 100 per cent load factors. It saw 90 per cent load factors in most other sectors in the country.

"Mid-way through the year, Air Deccan has carried a record 5,33,376 passengers in May alone. The travelling trend during the holiday season has again proved to be stimulus for this growth. There is no better proof of Air Deccan's popularity than passenger growth recorded over these years," said a release.

Of the new destinations launched in 2006 like Port Blair, Nagpur, Rajkot, Trichy, Tuticorin, Rajamundry, Thiruvananthapuram have received overwhelming response and also recorded over 90 per cent load factors in the past seven days, the release added.

Airline has flown over four million passengers since its inception in 2003. The year 2006 saw the number of flights being increased to 250 flights a day and a network spread of 55 destinations across the country.

This record growth comes in the month of May like most years when most travel with in the country are the summer vacationers or the VFR (visiting friends & relatives) category. The 30 crore affluent middle class families are exploiting the present scenario and utilising the very affordable air travel for their travelling.

For many in India these days, the journey to the next vacation or that quick business trip does not start with frantic phone calls to a travel agent or waiting in the queues of airlines offices anymore. It starts with just a few clicks on the computer mouse.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, India promises to be one of the foremost tourist growth centers in the coming decade.

The council forecast the local travel market is projected to grow by more than 8 percent until 2015, by when the Indian tourism market could generate over $121 billion of economic activity.