Tourist season, cheap fares boost Nov air passenger traffic

Onset of the tourist season along with cheaper air fares on the back of extra capacity raised India's domestic air passenger traffic 11.18 per cent in November.

As per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data, released on Thursday, the air passenger traffic grew by 11.18 per cent to 1.29 crore in November from 1.16 crore reported for the year-ago month.

In October, the air passenger traffic growth rate had inched up 3.98 per cent to 1.23 crore on the year-on-year basis.

The data also showed that January-November passenger traffic grew by 3.86 per cent to 13.11 crore from 12.62 crore ferried during the year-ago period.

"After witnessing low single-digit YoY growth in January-October, which included a YoY de-growth in April, the domestic passenger traffic has grown 11.2 per cent in November," said Kinjal Shah, Vice-President, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA.

"It can be attributed to onset of the tourist season. But overall for the domestic passenger traffic growth in April-November remains low at 3.2 per cent," Shah said.

According to Sabina Chopra, co-founder and COO, Corporate Travel and Head Industry Relations, at Yatra.com, the double-digit month-on-month growth in passenger traffic for November is a relief for the aviation sector, which was experiencing a slow growth since the past few months.

"The growth is coming on the back of competitive air fares. The lower air fares have been caused by expansion in seat capacity as well as crude oil prices staying on the lower side," Chopra said.

Major carriers further fuelled the growth by announcing sales during the month, despite it being a peak travel season, Chopra added.IANS