India's air travel saw passenger traffic recovery to 96% during 2022-23: MoS Civil Aviation

Aviation's growth trajectory: The Indian aviation industry is back on the growth trajectory and the total passenger traffic has recovered to the tune of 96 per cent during 2022-23, as compared to the pre-COVID phase. Highlighting the increase in passenger footfalls, while replying to a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Ministry Gen (Rtd) VK Singh (Retd) said the country's aviation sector is heading for a strong growth trajectory. 

Before the COVID-19 period, India was one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world. During the six years between 2014-15 to 2019-20, Indian airports witnessed a robust double-digit Compound Annual Growth Rate of 12.4 period in terms of total passenger traffic. 

In the last twelve months, two greenfield airports, Rajkot in Gujarat and Shivamogga in Karnataka have been operationalised, the MoS Civil Aviation added. In addition, new terminal buildings at Trichy, Ayodhya, Surat, Chennai, Tezu, Kanpur and Port Blair airports have been developed, VK Singh added.

Before 2014, there were 74 scheduled operational airports in the country and as of date there are 149 operational airports in the country, MoS aviation added.

Notably, Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), which provides market intelligence for the aviation and travel industry, has underlined the confirmed orders from airlines in India have touched 1,500 aircraft, and India will have a strong fleet of 3,500 aircraft by 2047. In its industry outlook issued earlier this year, CAPA had revealed that rising costs, and operational issues will be key to the aviation sector’s 2024 trajectory. Sustainability, digital transformation, supply chains, and international recovery will shape the air travel industry, CAPA has said in its report. 

Air travels' ‘UDAN’ 

Projections charting the trajectory of India’s aviation sector, expect the addition of 3,500 new aircraft by 2047. Airlines at present have placed confirmed 1,500 aircraft orders, for strengthening the existing fleet of 810 aircraft, says KPMG and FICCI's recent report.

The unprecedented gloom and doom caused by aircraft groundings in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, created a huge roadblock for the global aviation sector to overcome. Three years after beating the pandemic blues, Indian carriers have recorded a sharp double-digit passenger growth. The cumulative domestic air passenger traffic for the first eight months of FY24 reached a total of 1,007 lakh, representing a YoY growth of 17 per cent and 5 per cent higher than the pre-Covid levels.