India will be the world’s third largest air travel market by 2024 when it overtakes UK. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Wednesday gave the global trends for aviation which says the “eastward shift in aviation’s center of gravity continues”. The number of flyers globally could double to 8.2 billion in 2037.
“China will displace the United States as the world’s largest aviation market (defined as traffic to, from and within the country) in the mid-2020s…. India will take third place after the US, surpassing the UK around 2024,” IATA said.
The rapid growth in air traffic was also confirmed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which released September domestic air travel data. The number of domestic flyers has crossed the 10-crore mark in the first nine months of this year. This milestone was achieved in the 11 months (January to November) in 2017. In 2016, the number of domestic flyers was 99.9 lakh.
While air travel has exploded in India, airport infrastructure has not kept pace with that growth. As a result, India’s biggest hubs of Delhi and Mumbai have choked airports that find it hard to add any more flights. The second airports in these cities are about four to five years away.
IATA says the Asia-Pacific region will drive the biggest growth with more than half the total number of new passengers over the next 20 years coming from these markets. Growth in this market is being driven by a combination of continued robust economic growth, improvements in household incomes and favorable population and demographic profiles, it says.
“Aviation is growing, and that is generating huge benefits for the world. A doubling of air passengers in the next 20 years could support 100 million jobs globally. There are two important things that stand out about this year’s forecast. Firstly, we are seeing a geographical reshuffling of world air traffic to the East. And secondly, we foresee a significant negative impact on the growth and benefits of aviation if tough and restrictive protectionist measures are implemented,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO
“Indonesia is forecast to be a standout performer—climbing from the world’s 10th largest aviation market in 2017 to the 4th largest by 2030. Thailand is expected to enter the top 10 markets in 2030, replacing Italy which drops out of the ranking,” an IATA statement said.
