NEW DELHI: For the first time in six years, India’s airlines’ traffic has fallen 0.5 per cent year-on-year, reflecting the impact of the Jet Airways shutdown, said the International Air Transport Association in its monthly report Wednesday.
According to the report, the demand for domestic travel climbed 2.8 per cent in April compared to April 2018, but down from 4.1 per cent growth in March year-on-year.
While capacity increased 3.2 per cent, load factor slid 0.3 percentage point to 83.2 per cent, IATA said.
Asia-Pacific carriers posted a 2.9 per cent rise in traffic in April, up from 2 per cent in March but below the long-term averagem the report said. Global passenger traffic results for April 2019 rose by 4.3 per cent compared to April 2018. Regionally, Africa, Europe and Latin America posted record load factors.
“We experienced solid but not exceptional rising demand for air connectivity in April. This partly is owing to the timing of Easter, but also reflects the slowing global economy. Driven by tariffs and trade disputes, global trade is falling, and as a result, we are not seeing traffic growing at the same levels as a year ago. But, airlines are doing a very good job of managing aircraft utilization, leading to record load factors,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General.