New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANS) India's domestic passenger traffic grew by 23.3 per cent in June, a global airlines' association said on Thursday.
"India continued to lead all markets with a 23.3% rise in domestic traffic, propelled by strong growth in real consumer spending as well as by the fact that airlines are adding airport pairs and frequencies," the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its global passenger traffic data for June.
According to the data, India's domestic revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) and available seat kilometres (ASK) were the highest amongst the major aviation markets such as Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, the Russian Federation and the US.
The global airlines association'S data showed that India's domestic RPK -- a gauge that measures actual passenger traffic -- rose by 23.3 per cent in June compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
The June data disclosed that India's domestic passenger traffic growth was followed by that of China at 11.3 per cent, the US at 4.5 per cent, Australia at 2.8 per cent, Japan at 0.9 per cent and the Russian Federation at 0.7 per cent.
However, Brazil reported a decline in its domestic passenger traffic at 6.5 per cent.
Further, India's domestic ASK -- which measures available passenger capacity -- surged by 23.8 per cent in the month under review, followed by that of China at 8.9 per cent and the US at 4.3 per cent.
For the month under review, the global airlines association added that the global RPK in June rose by 5.2 per cent, while the ASK climbed by 5.6 per cent.
The data for June revealed that the demand for global domestic traffic increased by 5.7 per cent, against the international demand growth of five per cent.
"The demand for travel continues to increase, but at a slower pace," said Tony Tyler, Director General and Chief Executive, IATA.
"The fragile and uncertain economic backdrop, political shocks and a wave of terrorist attacks are all contributing to a softer demand environment."
