New Delhi: Indian airlines maintained the 36th consecutive month of double-digit traffic growth as demand rose 16% in August, International Air Transport Association (Iata) said in its global report on Thursday.
“Traffic continues to be stimulated by sizeable increases in the number of domestic routes served,” Iata added.
Globally passenger traffic data for August showed demand up 7.2% compared to the year-ago period.
“Following the strong summer traffic season in the Northern hemisphere, 2017 is on course to be another year of strong traffic growth. However, some important demand drivers are easing, particularly lower fares. As we head towards the end of the year we still expect growth to continue, but potentially at a slower pace,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Iata’s director general & CEO.
Iata expects India to displace the UK as the third-largest aviation market by 2026.
Ten years after that, India’s air passenger traffic will grow to 442 million by 2035, an increase of 322 million passengers from the current numbers, it estimates.
According to Iata, the five fastest-growing markets in terms of additional passengers per year over the forecast period would be China, the US, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“China will displace the US as the world’s largest aviation market (defined as traffic to, from and within the country) around 2029. India will displace the UK for the third place in 2026, while Indonesia enters the top ten at the expense of Italy,” Iata had said in its forecast last year.
“Growth will also increasingly be driven within developing markets. Over the past decade the developing world’s share of total passenger traffic has risen from 24% to nearly 40%, and this trend is set to continue,” Iata said.