India’s domestic passenger traffic up 22.3% in November: IATA

New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) India's domestic passenger traffic grew by 22.3 per cent in November, a global airlines' association said on Wednesday.

"Domestic travel demand rose 7.1 per cent in November 2016 compared to the same month in 2015, but results continued to vary widely, with China, India and Russia showing double-digit growth while demand declined in Brazil and Japan," the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its global passenger traffic data for November.

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 22.3 per cent in November 2016 compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

The November 2016 data disclosed that India's domestic passenger traffic growth was followed by that of the Russian Federation at 15.5 per cent, China at 14.9 per cent, the US at 3.9 per cent, and Australia at 1.8 per cent.

However, Japan reported a decline of 0.5 per cent, whereas Brazil of 1.6 per cent in its domestic passenger traffic.

Further, India's domestic ASK -- which measures available passenger capacity -- surged by 20.2 per cent in the month under review, followed by that of the Russian Federation at 15.8 per cent and China at 13.9 per cent.

In addition, the global airlines association said the global RPK in November showed the strongest demand growth in nine months and rose by 7.6 per cent. The global ASK climbed by 6.5 per cent each.

"Stronger demand for air travel reflects -- and is supporting -- a pick-up in the global economic cycle," Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and Chief Executive, IATA.

"As the stimulus effect of lower oil prices recedes in the rear view mirror, the strength of the economic cycle will play a key role in the pace of demand growth in 2017."

The international passenger demand for the month under review rose by eight per cent compared to November 2015, with airlines in all regions showing growth.