Indian domestic airline market grows by 26.2%

According to IATA, India’s domestic passenger market ranks number four with a double-digit annual growth of 26.2 per cent and PLF level of 84.5 per cent in July. This has been propelled by strong growth in real consumer spending and because airlines are adding lots of airport-pairs and frequencies, which cuts journey times for passengers and has the same effect on demand as a large cut in fares. International traffic flown by Asia Pacific airlines rose by 9.8 per cent year-on-year in July, with signs that the upward trend in seasonally-adjusted traffic is reasserting itself. Reports suggest that Asian passengers are being put off by terrorism in Europe: traffic on the Europe-Asia route fell by 0.9 per cent year-on-year in June (latest available), and it has been the weakest-performing major route so far in 2016. It appears that Asian travellers may be substituting to destinations closer to home: international traffic growth within Asia accelerated to a four month-high of 8.1 per cent year-on-year in June.