The ICRA, on Thursday said that the de-growth was largely driven by higher airfares in the wake of large scale flight cancellations following shutting down of Jet Airways and overall sluggishness in demand.
The country's air passenger traffic registered a negative growth of 3-5 percent in the last fiscal as traffic slowed even before the coronavirus outbreak due to multiple reasons, including closure of Jet Airways, according to rating agency ICRA.
The agency, on Thursday said the de-growth was largely driven by higher airfares in the wake of large scale flight cancellations following shutting down of Jet Airways and overall sluggishness in demand.
Jet Airways stopped operations in April last year. A gradual recovery in domestic traffic is expected once the commercial air services are restored while the international traffic would take a couple of quarters to come back to the normal level, the agency said.
Commercial flight services have been suspended till April 14 amid the 21-day nationwide lockdown to prevent spreading of coronavirus infections.
"Overall, except for the closure of airport operations, excluding cargo, the passenger traffic witnessed the de-growth in the range of 3-5 percent for FY2020," ICRA said during a media webinar on Thursday.
The growth in passenger traffic as well as aircaft movement slowed down considerably during nine months of FY20 even before the coronavirus pandemic, it added,
Financial year 2020 ended on March 31.
Noting that the growth in air traffic largely depends on economic cycle in the country, ICRA said over the last decade, aircraft traffic movement grew at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 7.2 percent between FY09 and FY19. However, there was a decline in FY09 and FY13.
The traffic saw double-digit growth every year in last four years, it added.Time to show-off your poker skills and win Rs.25 lakhs with no investment. Register Now!
