Even with an economic slowdown underway and with a major domestic carrier grounded, the Indian Civil Aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) expects a healthy rise in the air passenger traffic in 2019. Arun Kumar, Director General of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), spoke to IANS in an interview and remarked that the reason why the industry will see a rise in passenger traffic is because of capacity expansion even with a dull economic environment. As per Kumar, the induction of new aircraft in the domestic airlines’ fleet would bolster growth in the air passenger traffic. He also said that this would also ease airfares.
Air Passenger Traffic Starts Gaining Traction
Between the period of October to December, the airlines are expected to add 40 more aircrafts to their fleet which would give a boost to the passenger traffic. As per Kumar, the flights under UDAN like the one which recently started from Hindon airport would also add to the passenger traffic growth. He also added that in the last quarter of the calendar year, the air passenger traffic is expected to increase by 10-15%.
Domestic Airlines to Reach a Total of 640 Planes by Yearend
Back in April, the air traffic had hit a wall because of factors like a capacity constraint, economic slowdown, and high fares. But, come August, the passenger traffic again got a rise by around 3.87%. It’s also worth noting that passenger traffic growth is considered a key high-frequency indicator of the country's macro-economic health. The Director-General also added that the airlines would be adding around 8 to 9 aircrafts a month and in total, the domestic carriers could have 640 or more planes by December end.
