India’s domestic air traffic has remained stagnant in the first five months of 2013. Data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows that passenger numbers grew 0.74% from January to May. During this period, the five Indian airlines carried 26 million domestic passengers.
Air traffic has been falling for over a year even though the number of available seats has reduced after the bankruptcy of Kingfisher Airlines. In 2012, domestic traffic dropped to 58.82 million people from 60.7 million in 2011 even though international traffic grew 21.8%. The number of domestic passengers fell for 10 straight months through April. In May, passenger numbers grew 5% year-over-year.
Airline sources in Mumbai expect the numbers to pick up over the next few months. Fares have fallen, which is likely to stimulate demand. However, the growth is unlikely to help airlines because of the weak rupee-dollar value. On Wednesday, the Indian rupeefell to Rs 60.71 against the US dollar.
27/06/13 Cuckoo Paul/ATW
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Air traffic has been falling for over a year even though the number of available seats has reduced after the bankruptcy of Kingfisher Airlines. In 2012, domestic traffic dropped to 58.82 million people from 60.7 million in 2011 even though international traffic grew 21.8%. The number of domestic passengers fell for 10 straight months through April. In May, passenger numbers grew 5% year-over-year.
Airline sources in Mumbai expect the numbers to pick up over the next few months. Fares have fallen, which is likely to stimulate demand. However, the growth is unlikely to help airlines because of the weak rupee-dollar value. On Wednesday, the Indian rupeefell to Rs 60.71 against the US dollar.
27/06/13 Cuckoo Paul/ATW
