India witnessed the sharpest fall in domestic air travel globally last year. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released the data for 2012 over previous year, showing that India’s domestic air travel was the ‘weakest’, which saw a 2.1% fall compared to the world average of 4% growth. China and Brazil had the strongest domestic growth at 9.5% and 8.6%, respectively.
“Indian domestic travel shrank by 2.1% on 2011 levels. Weak economic growth was exacerbated by increasing operational costs, insufficient infrastructure, high taxes and onerous regulation. Capacity growth fell to 0.3% (from 16.2% in 2011) and the average load factor for the year was 72.9%,” IATA said.
While China and Brazil recorded highest growth rates, US saw a rise in domestic air travel by 0.8%. Japan’s domestic market saw demand grow by 3.6% in 2012.
Indian carriers warn that unless the government does not do something fast to correct the very high cost structure, the growth story of aviation here may be all but over. Officials say that the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) or jet fuel and airport charges must be lowered. ATF prices here for domestic flights are among the highest globally.
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