India’s air travel decelerated by 44.8% in August: International air transport body

Demand for India’s domestic travel fell by 44.8% in August but improved from July when it had declined by 58.9%, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Friday. IATA has attributed the improvement in passenger demand in August to growing vaccination rates and less stringent international travel restrictions in some regions.

However, globally, air travel had decelerated in August from July.

“India and Russia were the only large markets to show a month-to-month improvement compared to July,” IATA’s statement read.

According to IATA, the global passenger traffic in August – measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) – was down by 56% as compared to the same month in 2019. In July, it was 53% below the 2019 level.