India emerges as key aviation market: IATA 

India is quickly becoming a significant global aviation market, according to a report released by The International Air Transport Association (IATA).. Domestic air travel in India has continued to grow steadily and was just 2.2% below pre-pandemic levels as of February, as measured by passenger revenue kilometres (PRK). India’s domestic passenger market has also surpassed other domestic markets, including the US, China, and Japan, in terms of passenger load factor (PLF), achieving top PLFs of 81.6% in February, 85.2% in January, 88.9% in December 2022, and 87.9% in November 2022. 

In February 2023, domestic air passenger traffic for all markets measured increased by 25.2% compared to one year ago, with total domestic traffic reaching 97.2% of the February 2019 level. Despite India having only 35 to 40 million air travel passengers annually, compared to China’s 660 million in 2019, experts anticipate India becoming the fastest-growing aviation market with a burgeoning middle class and rising incomes, coupled with incentives such as reduced airfares.

Globally, traffic has reached 84.9% of February 2019 levels, with total traffic in February 2023, based on revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), rising by 55.5% compared to February 2022.

Foreign airlines, including Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways, are also interested in investing in the Indian aviation market. Following Tata Sons’ acquisition of Air India, Singapore Airlines has invested $267 million into the revamped airline, giving it a 25.1% stake in the new Air India group, in addition to its previous investment in Vistara Airlines, which is set to merge with Air India. Etihad Airways is also exploring opportunities to expand its operations in India to six additional cities beyond its current destinations of Delhi and Mumbai.

Source: The Economic Times