Driven by reduction in domestic fares India’s domestic air traffic rose in last May says the latest data of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Domestic traffic rose 3.5 per cent against a 0.3 per cent decline in capacity that caused load factor to rise 3.0 percentage points to 81.6 per cent. The May increase is a rebound on April, when the market had contracted, the IATA said.    

However, there has been substantial volatility in growth rates over recent months. Reductions in domestic fares had resulted in stronger demand in March and possibly again now in May, but this trend has not been consistent and when coupled with a weak economic backdrop, a growth trend is difficult to establish. IATA said the demand for air travel globally continues to be strong despite less-than-robust economic indicators in some key markets.    

The overall demand growth was led by emerging markets. Compared to the year-ago period, global passenger traffic rose 5.6 per cent, while capacity climbed 5.2 per cent pushing the load factor up 0.3 percentage points to 78.1 per cent.    

May international passenger demand rose 5.7 per cent compared to the year-ago period, with capacity up 5.6 per cent. Load factor was flat at 77 per cent. The strongest growth occurred in the emerging markets of Africa, Latin America and West Asia.