During January to July 2016, the growth stood at 23% as compared to the first six months of the last year, reveals the latest data available with the civil aviation ministry.
India's aviation market grew at a record pace in July, soaring 25.82% as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal, posting double-digit growth for the 24th consecutive month as lower fares attracted more fliers.
During January to July 2016, the growth stood at 23% as compared to the first six months of the last year, reveals the latest data available with the civil aviation ministry.
The growth momentum continued to stay high despite the fact that after June, the peak season for travel slows down in the country as schools and colleges re-open after the summer break. It peaks up again around the festive season, with Diwali, Christmas and new year celebrations, say insiders from aviation and tourism industry .
“Indian aviation continues to soar. July passenger growth reaches a record-breaking 25%,” tweeted Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Friday.
The travel industry experts attributed the growth during the non-peak season to promotional fares offered by the airlines, which may have resulted in passengers switching from trains to airlines. Further, the increasing tendency of people to take short vacations may have also pushed the growth.
As per the statistics available with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, about 85.08 lakh passengers flew during July this year by domestic airlines as compared to 67.62 lakh during July last year.
Likewise, the passengers carried by domestic airlines during the period of January-July 2016 were 560.87 lakh as against 455.95 lakh during the corresponding period of previous year, thereby registering a growth of 23.01%.
As per the estimate projected by several international and national studies, India is the ninth largest aviation market in the world and is expected to become the third-largest one by the end of 2020.
Travel agents and other industry insiders claim that though more people fly during the peak seasons, the number of people flying during the non-peak season is also increasing due to several reasons.
“The rock bottom fares due to promotional schemes and competition lured the people to take short trips during the short or extended weekends. This could be one of the most important reason, apart from several others factors,” said Subhash Goyal, chairman, STIC Group.
“Several state tourism boards are aggressively promoting tourism through difference mediums, which has overall raised the travelling push among people who now want to use every opportunity to travel to different parts of the country,” he added.
Iqbal Mulla, chairman of consultancy group Global Tourism Council (GTC) says that the low fares from competing airlines have to an extent converted a lot of train passengers to take up flying.
“The domestic market will grow further in coming time,” says Mulla optimistically.
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