"Growth in India is being propelled by the comparatively strong economic backdrop as well as by substantial increase in service frequencies," the International Air Traffic Association (IATA) said in a report released on Monday.
The domestic air passsenger traffic grew 21.8% in April, the straight 20th month of double-digit growth, even as international growth faltered on terrorist attack in Brussels.
"Growth in India is being propelled by the comparatively strong economic backdrop as well as by substantial increase in service frequencies," the International Air Traffic Association (IATA) said in a report released on Monday.
As per the data, the global demand (measured in total revenue passenger kilometre, or RPK) rose 4.6%--the slowest pace since January 2015. Similarly, April capacity (available seat kilometre, or ASK) increased 4.9% while load factor slipped 0.3 percentage points to 79.1% during the month.
"The disruptive impact of the Brussels Airport attack weighed on the April figures. IATA estimates that, absent the impact of the attacks, demand growth would have been around 5%." the report said.
The IATA report comes days after Irish LCC Ryanair head Michael O'Leary said in the face of terror attacks air fares were expected to fall by about 7% for the rest of the travelling season. His comments came after an EgyptAir aircraft with 66 people on board crashed on May 19. Investigators have not ruled out any sabotage, including terror angle, behind the accident. The investigators claim that smoke was detected on board the plane shortly before it disappeared off radar screens.
According to the analysts, the airline stocks are hit after every such major attack. Soon after the Brussels attack, the stocks of major European airlines including Air France-KLM, Turkish Airlines and Norwegian airlines tumbled.
However, the association sees silver lining.
Tony Tyler, IATA's director general and CEO, said, "The disruptive impacts of the Brussels terror attacks will likely be short-lived. There are some longer-term clouds over the pace of demand growth. The stimulus from lower oil prices appears to be tapering off. And the global economic situation is subdued. Demand is still growing but we may be shifting down a gear."
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