IATA: India's domestic travel demand up 13.8 pc last year

New Delhi:  Domestic air traffic demand in India grew by almost 14 percent last year. The airlines enjoyed an average load factor of almost 79 percent in May compared to last year, even as the global average rose by 79.4 percent. “India’s domestic demand was 13.8 percent above previous-year’s levels against a capacity expansion of 19.9 percent. The load factor of 78.3 percent is consistent with the global average of 79.4 percent,” global airlines body International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its latest report. While the May results showed a 6.8 percent rise in global passenger traffic over May 2010, this was four percent higher than the beginning of the year. [caption id=“attachment_34469” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“India’s domestic demand was 13.8 percent above previous-year’s levels against a capacity expansion of 19.9 percent. Reuters”]  [/caption] “We saw positive developments for the air transport volumes in May. But there are risks associated with political unrest in the Middle East and the European currency crisis,” IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani said. “We still expect the industry to make $4 billion this year. That is a pathetic 0.7 percent margin and another shock could alter the industry’s fortunes dramatically. It is another tough year for a very fragile industry,” he added. In China, domestic demand was 10.4 percent higher than in last May, with load factors touching 82 percent. On the global passenger market, the IATA report said the “fastest international growth” was witnessed in Latin America where air carriers saw a growth of 21.3 percent compared to May 2010. The airlines of this region also experienced the fastest capacity expansion at 15.2 percent. Asia-Pacific carriers recorded an expansion of 4.7 percent, which was considerably below the global average of 8 percent. This was due to continuing weakness in the post- earthquake/tsunami Japanese market, it said. PTI