Domestic passenger traffic dips 7% in Feb, despite fare cuts

Mumbai: Domestic air passenger traffic is likely to continue its negative trend in March despite aggressive fare cuts by airlines since January, according to initial estimates provided by travel agents.
Airlines witnessed a 7% drop in passengers during February compared with the year-ago period, according to data released by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). In January, the number of domestic air passengers fell to 3.32 million, compared with 3.33 million last year, it said.
DGCA is scheduled to come out with its passenger figures for March, by the month end. According to Amadeus India MD Ankur Bhatia, “Though domestic airlines have cut fares by almost half in the January-February period, the number of passengers keeps declining. There is no recovery in passenger load.” Amadeus is a global technology and distribution partner to the travel and tourism industry.
Interestingly, when passenger traffic data is falling, online bookings in the Asia Pacific have increased by 17%. In India, almost 4.5 million bookings, or 11% of all air bookings, were made online — a 56% increase from the previous year. According to PhoCusWright’s Indian Online Travel, online travel revenues in India are expected to reach $5.7 billion by 2010.
10/04/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2009