Indian domestic air traffic fell 1.1 per cent in July year-on-year.
This is the worst performance for airlines in any market, reflecting the weakening economy among other factors, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA).
A new IATA report has indicated that overall the domestic markets experienced slow growth in July, continuing the trend that began early this year.
In total, traffic rose 3.1 per cent year-on year, down from 4.2 per cent in June. However, the slowdown was not universal, with China and Brazil recording strong growth that was offset by the weakness in India and Japan, the report said.
According to another report by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, domestic traffic in India has been subdued in July on account of seasonal weakness, higher fares and Kingfisher Airlines’ pulling out of certain sectors.
“However, the traffic is expected to recover from October onwards as the festive season sets in and we estimate a 5-6 per cent growth in traffic for the full year,” the report added.
International air passenger traffic was up 3.5 per cent in July year-on-year, although the growth rate has slowed compared to the early part of 2012.
“The slowdown in international air travel growth has been concentrated in the past few months, in line with the decline in business confidence. Weakness in some key domestic air travel markets has been evident for longer periods. Apart from African and Middle Eastern carriers, carriers in all other regions reported aggregate declines for international demand for July compared to June,” IATA said in the statement.