India’s air traffic drops 5% in 2008
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A sharp rise in fuel prices last year saw India’s aviation sector witnessing an almost 5% decline in passenger traffic, according to government data.
The Economic Times said this was the first time in several years that passenger traffic had witnessed a dip. The last decline was witnessed in 2001-02 following the 9/11 terrorist attack in the US.
The report said domestic airlines such as Air India, Kingfisher Airlines and IndiGo flew 40.77 million passengers last year compared to 42.85 million passengers the year before.
Low-cost carriers (LCCs) including IndiGo and SpiceJet however, bucked the recessionary trend during the year. IndiGo saw a 46% jump during this period.
The report said the double-digit growth in the aviation sector began to fumble since April, as airfares climbed following skyrocketing fuel prices. The following months saw fares on most of the sectors witnessing a jump of 60% and in some cases even 100%.
It added that with consolidation in the domestic skies, cheaper fare options offered by LCCs had almost vanished.
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