Domestic passenger traffic could go down to 2016 level: Crisil

MUMBAI: Domestic air passenger traffic is expected to fall to fiscal 2016 levels with only about 78-83 million flyers this fiscal, according to projections released by CRISIL Research on Wednesday.
As for international passenger traffic, delayed resumption of international operations is likely to translate into a steep drop in passenger numbers for fiscal 2021, with passenger volumes projected at 25-30 million, which was the level last seen in fiscal 2008.
“Curtailed mobility of people due to the Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions will shrink India’s air passenger traffic in both domestic and international sectors by 40-45% and 60-65%, respectively, this fiscal,” said CRISIL.
Looking ahead, if a COVID cure comes along, then in FY 2022, domestic passenger traffic would be at 122-130 million, near the fiscal 2018 level, as people will take to air travel again. But some share of business traffic is expected to be lost permanently owing to rising preference for video-conferencing and other digital means of communication, it said. In second scenario, with no cure, only essential travel is expected to continue, domestic passenger traffic was projected at 98-105 million, which is somewhat near the fiscal 2017 level, said the report.