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Domestic Air Passenger Traffic Fails To Grow In Double-Digits First Time In 4 Years

Domestic passenger traffic rose by just 5.1 percent in 2019, says IATA.

A sign pointing toward visitor lounges hangs above a waiting area inside the Terminal 2 building at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in Delhi, India. (Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg)
A sign pointing toward visitor lounges hangs above a waiting area inside the Terminal 2 building at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in Delhi, India. (Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg)

After four years of double-digit growth, the Indian domestic passenger traffic rose by just 5.1 percent in 2019, down from 18.9 percent in 2018, the International Air Transport Association said on Thursday.

"2019 was challenging for air travel in the domestic India market. After more than four years of double-digit expansion, the market's RPK ( revenue passenger kilometres) growth slowed sharply amidst the Jet Airways bankruptcy and weakening economic activity," said a statement issued by the IATA said.

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IATA, which represents around 290 airlines comprising 82 percent of global air traffic, measures passenger growth in revenue passenger kilometres, which is calculated by multiplying the number of passengers to the distance travelled by them.

About Indian market, the IATA noted, "Passenger volumes ended the year on a soft note (up 1.7 percent year-on-year in December), which highlights the challenges for the market in the period ahead."