Air traffic leaps 23% in Jan

New Delhi: The aviation slowdown witnessed last year is promising to fade into a sunset. Last month saw 41.4 lakh domestic fliers, 23% higher than January 2009's figure of 33.7 lakh. This two-digit growth comes on the heels of an unprecedented 33% figure recorded last December over the same period in 2008. More importantly, it reverses the trend of negative growth, considering January 2009 saw traffic falling by 14% from January 2008.
The low-cost model has now consolidated itself as the future of domestic flying with budget carriers accounting for almost 60% of all passengers. Both Jet and Kingfisher are now using a majority of their fleet on domestic routes on their budget brands. Air India, that does not have a separate domestic LCC, now finds budget carriers snapping at its heels. The full service AI (domestic) flew 7.3 lakh people last month with leading LCC IndiGo not far behind at 6.2 lakh.
The sudden surge in traffic has taken the industry by surprise. Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (India) head Kapil Kaul said: "We are in a long term robust growth cycle now. The annual traffic dip experienced from February 15 to March-end is also unlikely to be very severe this year. Most airlines can expect to be profitable in the next financial year, especially the LCCs. No one expected the revival to be so sudden."
But there was a word of caution too from Amadeus India head Ankur Bhatia. "The industry should be cautiously optimistic. December's growth of 33% has come down to 23% in January. By middle of the year, we may see a flat growth. Airlines must exercise restraint in adding capacity," Bhatia said.
13/02/10 Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2010