India’s domestic passenger traffic surged by a robust 25.1 per cent in November last year, fuelled by higher capacity deployment, improved economic sentiment coupled with Diwali rush, even as other major aviation markets such as Brazil, Russia and Japan delivered a negative growth during the same period.
The overall average domestic travel demand across the seven major aviation markets spiked by 6.4 per cent in November 2015 over the same period a year-ago amid falling air fares, with the US seeing 9.1 per cent growth, second after India, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA).
China’s domestic passenger traffic during this period surged by 8.4 per cent, it said.
The international air traffic during the period also rose 5.6 per cent compared to November 2014, with airlines in all regions recording growth.
India’s strong results reflect notable increases in service frequencies, ongoing economic strength and the timing of the Diwali holiday, IATA said adding, air passenger traffic declined by 7.1 per cent in Japan.
According to IATA, the healthy demand continued despite some softening in economic growth, in large part owing to falling fares.
Data for the first ten months of the year show a 5 per cent decline in average fares in currency-adjusted terms, it said.
“Consumers continue to benefit from lower fares, which are spurring demand. The economy benefits from the stimulus to consumer spending. And airlines are starting to achieve minimum acceptable profit levels.
“It’s good news all around, but as we open 2016, economic risks are mounting,” IATA Chief Executive Officer and Director General Tony Tyler said.
“The airline industry is delivering solid financial and operational performance. The industry’s return on capital for 2015 and 2016 is expected to exceed its cost of capital-a very rare occurrence,” he said.
“Passenger demand remains strong; however, the ongoing turmoil in the global financial markets and concerns over slowing economic growth in China are casting a shadow over the New Year,” he added.