India’s domestic traffic slips marginally
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
India’s domestic traffic slipped 0.3% in April 2013 as compared to a year ago.
This followed a sharp rise in March 2013 traffic attributable to fare discounting. According to the statistics released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), capacity fell 0.2% and load factor was unchanged at 75.5%.
Overall, domestic markets climbed 3.5% in April compared to the previous year, driven primarily by strong demand in China, as other markets experienced declines with the exception of Australia, which rose 3.8%. Total domestic capacity was up 7.4% compared to April 2012 and load factor fell 0.9% points to 78.6%.
IATA also announced that global passenger traffic results for April showed a 3.2% increase in demand over the previous April. The timing of the Easter holiday (which occurred in March 2013 and in April 2012) is largely responsible for the apparent decline from March performance (when year-on-year demand showed a 6.2% increase). The seasonally adjusted rate for April showed demand up almost 5%, which is in line with the long term historical trend.
“Passenger demand continued to grow in April, extending the positive trend that has been developing since late 2012. The increase, however, is concentrated in emerging markets. Airlines in Europe and North America reported a modest expansion compared to the strong growth seen in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. While economic developments in Europe and the US certainly bear watching, most indicators continue to signal further expansion in air travel,” said Tony Tyler, IATA director general and CEO.
Capacity rose 4.4% on the previous April which was slightly ahead of demand. This pushed the industry load factor downwards by 0.9% points to 78.1%. If we adjust for the impacts of seasonality, the load factor remained near record highs of 80%.