Jet Airways crisis leads to air traffic growth hitting five-year low in FY19

Passenger traffic growth at airports fell to a five-year low of 11.6% year-on-year in FY19 mainly due to grounding of aircraft by Jet Airways and runway repair work at Mumbai and Delhi airports during the year. Domestic and international passengers count at airports across the country was recorded at 344.6 million during FY19 compared to 308.7 million exactly a year ago, according to the data released by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The airports’ traffic had grown at 6% y-o-y in FY14. It witnessed a growth between 12.5% and 16.5% y-o-y in the last four years mainly on the back of affordable fares and rising personal disposable income.

Full-service carrier Jet Airways’ financial struggle reduced the total airlines’ capacity in the market leading to lower passenger numbers at airports. Jet suspended all operations from April 17 due to liquidity crunch.

Domestic carriers, which recorded 52 months of double-digit growth in passenger traffic, have grown at 5% y-o-y in calendar year 2019.