IATA’s recent report reveals that India has had the 2nd strongest domestic air traffic growth at 12.3 per cent in February worldwide. Earlier, an Indian tourism ministry report had revealed an increase in foreign tourists taking flights to India in January.
India has had the second strongest domestic air traffic growth in the world at 12.3 per cent as per the report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Brazil experienced the fastest growth in contrast to the last year as the demand hiked up by 17.9 per cent.
The global traffic report for February declared by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said: “India experienced the second strongest growth among the major domestic markets at 12.3%. This lagged behind the 16.3% increase in capacity over previous-year levels.
“Nonetheless, India’s carriers filled 75.4 per cent of seats. The strong traffic growth masks financial weakness resulting from high operating costs and taxation,” the report continued.
Earlier, a press release by Indian Tourism Ministry revealed encouraging figures and saw 2012 as a booming time for the country. As per the press release on the ministry’s website, the Foreign Tourist Arrival (FTA) figure during the Month of January 2012 was 6,81,000 as compared to FTAs of 6,24,000 during the same period in 2011. Going backwards, year 2011 saw an overall growth of 8.9%.
The higher number of international passengers – business and leisure holiday makers – taking flights to India as well as the growth in the domestic traffic is a positive sign which reveals the fairly good health of the Indian aviation sector. This is despite some of the popular Indian airlines which made headlines in the media in the recent past.
As per yet another recent revelation by reliable sources, which reflects a highly positive attitude of the Indian administration towards the country’s aviation sector, the Indian government will invest $30 billion over the next decade for the development of country’s existing airports as well as opening new airports.
The upward trendline of total foreign tourist arrivals clearly means a considerable rise in the number of budget holiday makers who book tickets on cheap flights. A whopping investment to develop existing airports and build new ones is a clear sign that travellers will have more gateways to connect to various destinations in the country, which in-turn is highly likely to cause a number of airlines to launch new routes to and within India. A careful interpretation of these signs indicates beyond doubt that it’s the budget traveller seeking cheap flights to India and within, who is all set benefit in the time to come.
