TOURISM INDIA MARCH 2019 TOURISM INDIA MARCH 2019 | Page 33

restrictions and the temporary ban
on large portable electronic devices.
Traffic actually declined 0.1% year-on-
year in December, but this may reflect
volatility in data.
North American airlines had their
full-year traffic rising 5.0% compared
to 2017, an increase from 4.7% annual
growth in 2017 while capacity climbed
3.7%, and load factor edged up 1.0
percentage point to 82.6%, second
highest among the regions.
This may be owing to increasing
concerns over the US economic
outlook and trade tensions with
ChinaLatin American airlines’ traffic
climbed 6.9% in 2018, a slowdown
compared to 8.8% annual growth in
2017, Capacity rose 7.7% and load
factor dipped 0.6 percentage point
to 81.8%. Traffic was affected by the
mid-year general strikes in Brazil as
well as by political and economic
developments in some of the region’s
other key economies.
African airlines saw 2018 traffic
rise 6.5% compared to 2017, which
was an increase compared to 6.0%
annual growth in 2017 while Capacity
rose 4.4%, and load factor jumped
1.4 percentage points to 71.0%. The
strong performance took place in spite
of the mixed economic backdrop of the
continent’s largest economies, Nigeria
and South Africa. Domestic Passenger
Markets
Domestic air travel climbed 7.0%
last year, which was unchanged from
the rate in 2017. All markets showed
annual growth, led by India and China,
which both posted double-digit annual
increases. Capacity rose 6.8% and load
factor was 83.0%, up 0.2% percentage
point compared to 2017.
India’s domestic market posted the
fastest full-year domestic growth rate
2018 CAPACITY
CLIMBED 6.1%, AND
LOAD FACTOR EDGED
UP 0.3 PERCENTAGE
POINT TO A RECORD
81.9%, EXCEEDING THE
PREVIOUS HIGH SET IN
2017.
for the fourth consecutive year, with
an 18.6% annual demand increase.
Domestic demand is underpinned
by robust economic expansion and
increasing numbers of city pairs.
Australia represented the opposite
picture, as annual traffic rose just 1.4%,
although this was a slight increase over
the rate of 2017.
March 2019 Tourism India
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