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Mumbai / Tribune News Service
India’s domestic air traffic market grew the fastest in the world for the 13th consecutive month in April, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its report. The market grew at nearly 22%, it said.
“India’s domestic traffic soared 21.8%, marking the 20th month of double-digit traffic growth and the 13th consecutive month it has led the domestic markets,†IATA said. Growth is being propelled by a relatively strong economy as well as by substantial increases in service frequencies, it added.
Internationally demand for domestic travel climbed 4.1% in April compared to April 2015, while capacity increased 3.8%, causing the load factor to rise 0.3 percentage points to 81.4%.
All markets reported demand increases with the exception of Brazil, which showed a 12.1% decline, reflecting the country’s economic recession and political turmoil. China’s airlines recorded 9.5% domestic traffic growth.
The disruptive impact of the Brussels Airport attack weighed on the April figures. IATA estimates that in the absence of the attacks, demand growth would have been around 5%.
“The disruptive impacts of the Brussels terror attacks will likely be short-lived. There are some longer-term clouds over the pace of demand growth. The stimulus from lower oil prices appears to be tapering off. And the global economic situation is subdued. Demand is still growing, but we may be shifting down a gear,†said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.