International air traffic will be hit hard

New Delhi: International airlines, that have seen their business out of India grow 12-17% annually for seven of the past eight years, will bear the brunt of the impact of the terror attacks in Mumbai as foreign travellers defer travel to the popular destination.
One in five air passengers in India fly through or from Mumbai, the country’s financial capital. International passenger traffic, expected to grow almost 10% through March 2009 even as domestic passenger traffic is falling, may now moderate to single-digit growth.
The only time international growth contracted—by 2.4% —year-on-year was in fiscal 2002 after the September 2001 terror attacks in the US.
“They (terrorists) are like small military units going around...just to dissuade people (from coming) to India,” insists Robey Lal, former country head for International Air Transport Association (Iata), a travel industry group. “Even when people are coming (travelling) on business, and they can do it on phone, they would much rather do that than show up in person. It will impact everything.”
Around 70% of India’s inbound tourist traffic, itself one-third of India’s total international passengers, is in the September-March period, according to the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (Capa).
This busy season may see a significant drop for at least the next “two-three weeks”, the aviation research and consultancy firm said.
28/11/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Categories: Foreign Nov 2008, Indian Aviation- In General Nov 2008