India expects domestic pax to reach 160-180m p/a in next 10 years, international pax to exceed 80m

India's Ministry of Civil Aviation noted (28-Dec-2012) that civil aviation has been identified as one of the most important growth engines essential for the economic growth of the country. The Ministry noted: "Air transport in India has witnessed enormous growth in the recent past. During the last 10 years, compounded annual growth rate of passenger traffic has been approximately 15%. A key trend in the business model of the Indian Carriers in the domestic operations is that the domestic traffic is rapidly shifting to Low Cost Carriers (LCC). From a level of about 1% in 2003-2004, the market share of LCC including the LCC arm of full service carriers is today exceeding 70% of the total domestic traffic". Looking forward, the Ministry expects that India is likely to be the fastest growing aviation market in the world in the next 20 years. The Ministry noted, "Estimates suggest that the domestic air traffic will touch 160-180 million passengers per annum in the next 10 years and the international traffic will exceed 80 million passengers per annum from the current level of 60 million domestic and 40 million international passengers respectively. According to International Air Transport Association's Airline Industry Forecast 2012-2016,India's domestic air travel market would be among the top five globally, experiencing the second highest growth rate". [more - original PR][more - CAPA India Outlook]