Urban Transport Infrastructure November 2018 Urban Transport Infra November 2018 | Page 36

Airport & Aviation
India to be world's third largest aviation market by
2024-25: IATA
HIGHLIGHTS
• The number of domestic flyers has
crossed the 10-crore mark in the
first nice months of this year.
• The milestone was achieved in the
11 months (January to November)
in 2017
I
ndia will be the world’s third
largest air travel market by
2024 when it overtakes UK.
The
International
Air
Transport Association (IATA) on 24 th
October 2018 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.
The rapid growth in air traffic was
also confirmed by the Directorate
WWW.URBANTRANSPORTNEWS.COM
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.
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"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.
***
Urban Transport Infrastructure | November 2018