Air traffic witnesses eight per cent fall year-on-year in April 2009

Mumbai: Last month has been the third month that airlines have witnessed traffic declining on a year-on-year basis as fewer passengers are travelling by air. Air passenger traffic in the domestic sector may have fallen by eight per cent in April this year compare with last year, according to market experts and travel industry officials. The official figures for April will be released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) by next week. According to a report in Economic Times by Mithun Roy, Amadeus, a global technology and distribution partner to the aviation industry, estimates the fall of around five per cent and predicts that the traffic may move downwards, despite aggressive fare cuts by airlines from January this year.
“Airlines have reduced nearly 20 per cent of their capacity, but they may have to shed another 20 per cent in the next few months,” said Ankur Bhatia, Managing Director, Amadeus India. Airfares went up by almost 20 per cent in March this year compared with those in January this year. There will be no recovery in passengers load, said an analyst with domestic brokerage firm. Air India implemented a 70 per cent cut in its fares recently, while Jet Airways last week started a low-fare service called Jet Airways Konnect.
10/05/09 TravelBizMonitor

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General May 2009