Domestic air traffic starts flying again

Bangalore: This June air traffic of domestic airlines flew high as they carried 1.98 lakh--or 5.66%--more passengers compared to the same month last year. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released on Monday shows the local carriers flew 36.94 lakh passengers this June as against 34.96 lakh last June.
An industry expert said the spurt in the passenger numbers was mainly due to better fares and a slight increase in the capacity. "Airlines were able to carry more passengers this June because of better fares. Also, last June many airlines had cut capacity and that had also suppressed traffic. Yields, more or less, are at the same levels as last year's," he said.
Airlines were not only able to push up year-on-year traffic but sequentially also. From March quarter to June quarter, they flew 11.16 lakh, or 11.36%, more passengers as 109.38 lakh fliers got aboard local airlines in the June quarter compared with 98.22 lakh fliers in March quarter.
Though, the passenger numbers for the first half of the current calendar year have slipped with 18.46 lakh, or 8.05%, fewer fliers taking to the sky compared to first half of last year. During that period - from January to June - only 210.99 lakh flew as against 229.45 lakh in the corresponding period of 2008.
Number of fliers in June was down compared to May too, when 2.35 lakh - or 5.98% - more passengers travelled by air.
14/07/09 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2009