The air passenger traffic in the country stood at 24.0 million in September 2017, exhibiting a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 15% over September 2016. According to an ICRA note, the YoY growth rate for aircraft traffic was 14% in September 2017, while it was 19% for cargo traffic. 

 

Commenting on the development, Harsh Jagnani, Vice President and Sector Head for Corporate Ratings, ICRA Limited, said, “The YoY air passenger growth has remained robust at 15% in September 2017, witnessing a slight increase from 14% YoY growth reported in August 2017. The growth has been driven primarily by increase in domestic passenger traffic, which constitutes around 79% of the total passenger traffic in the country and reported a 16.3% YoY growth in September 2017 as against 15.8% growth in August 2017. Overall, for Q2 FY2018, the YoY passenger traffic growth has remained robust at 14%, which augurs well for the industry given that July-September is traditionally considered to be a lean period. ” In line with the growth in passenger traffic, the aircraft traffic has also witnessed healthy increase, reporting YoY growth of 14% for September 2017 and 13% for Q2FY2018. 

 

In another positive, air cargo traffic maintained its growth momentum, reporting a healthy Y-o-Y growth of 19% in September 2017 as against 16% in August 2017. “Cargo volumes have continued to maintain a double-digit growth trend over the last 7 months. Both domestic and international cargo volumes reported healthy growth in September 2017, increasing by 16% and 20% Y-o-Y respectively.” concludes Jagnani.