Indian domestic traffic surges in August
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Indian domestic traffic surged 15.7% in August as compared to a year ago.
According to the data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), there has been substantial volatility in growth rates in recent month but year-to-date growth of 2.8% confirms that demand has been weak overall, consistent with weakening economic conditions. Capacity on Indian domestic routes increased 8.5% over August 2012, while load factors climbed 4.5 percentage points to 71.9%.
Overall demand for domestic travel climbed 5.6% in August as compared to the corresponding month last year. Developing markets in Asia posted double-digit demand growth and all markets showed year-over-year increases. Total domestic capacity was up 5.7% and load factor slipped fractionally to 82.4%. China’s domestic market jumped 13.7% compared to a year ago, while Japan enjoyed another month of strong demand with traffic up 8.8% in August year-on-year.
IATA also stated that global passenger traffic results for last month showed a strengthening of the healthy demand trend of the last few months. Total revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) rose 6.8% compared to August 2012, whereas capacity increased over the year-ago period lagged demand at 5.6%.
“August was a positive month for passenger travel. Strong demand and capacity discipline saw load factors match the previous record high of 83.4%. The solid performance was also supported by a stabilisation of emerging market weakness and renewed confidence in Europe and North America. Trading conditions are still tough with high oil prices, stiff competition and regulatory hurdles. But demand growth remains a bright spot with most indications pointing towards an acceleration in the fourth quarter,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO.
Comments are closed.