October 13, 2017 TnH Global

Air travel demand in India continues in double digits for 36

The air travel demand in India continued in the double digit for the 36 months on a trot with the domestic passenger traffic rising 16 per cent in August over the same period of 2016, global airlines body IATA said today. Also, the demand grew almost twice of the average global domestic traffic in August, which stood at 7.6 per cent in the month, according to the traffic data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The overall passenger traffic (both domestic and international) climbed to 7.2 per cent in August compared to August 2016, IATA said. August capacity (available seat kilometres or ASKs) increased by 6.3 per cent while the load factor climbed 0.7 percentage points to 84.5 per cent, which was just below the record for the month set in 2015, it said.

“Indian airlines achieved a 36th consecutive month of double-digit traffic growth as demand rose 16 per cent. Traffic continues to be stimulated by sizable increases in the number of domestic routes served,” IATA said. According to IATA, the August international passenger demand rose 7 per cent compared to August 2016 with all six regions — Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle-east, North America, Latin America and Africa — recording a surge in traffic increases, led by the Latin American airlines. The capacity on international routes went up by 6.1 per cent and the load factor edged up 0.8 percentage points to 84.5 per cent in August 2017, IATA said.

“Following the strong summer traffic season in the Northern hemisphere, 2017 is on course to be another year of strong traffic growth. However, some important demand drivers are easing, particularly lower fares,” IATA’s Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said.

“As we head towards the end of the year we still expect growth to continue, but potentially at a slower pace,” he said.