Airlines bet big on non-metros

New Delhi: Trunk routes such as Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Bangalore are no longer generating profits to the airline companies. The reason is that the airlines have increased the number of flights, which are not flying full capacity.
Also, airline companies are emphasising on the non-metro routes as the growth there is more than the metro routes.
For the cash strapped airlines, smaller cities and towns are bringing in huge passengers loads even as the troubled aviation sector is looking for new ways to fight rising costs and sustain operations.
According to the latest data released by Airports Authority of India (AAI), while the traffic growth in metros has been in the range of 30-40% in 2007-08, it has more than doubled in the case of smaller towns such as Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Ranchi and Raipur , the growth has been in the region of 60-100%.
14/06/08 Chanchal Pal Chauhan & Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jun 2008