India Overtakes China as Asia Pacific's Aviation Industry Powerhouse
12 July 2006
- Asia-Pacific aviation activity up 11 per cent
- India’s scheduled service growth rate outstrips China’s
- Kolcata, Delhi, Mumbai top region’s airport rankings
- OAG reports sustained growth 2001-2006 for Asia-Pacific
July 2006: India this month becomes the Asia-Pacific region’s new scheduled aviation powerhouse, with growth rates that outstrip even those of China, according to the latest figures from OAG.
The world’s airlines will this month operate nearly 2.5 million scheduled flights in total, one per cent more than in July 2005. The number of flights to and from the Asia-Pacific region, in comparison, is 11 per cent higher than a year ago.
And while the number of flights to and from China is up five per cent, the figure for India is 19 per cent higher than this time last year. On the domestic front, the contrast is even more pronounced – China’s domestic flights total is up 15 per cent this month, while India’s is up 49 per cent.
The figures are revealed in OAG’s latest Quarterly Airline Traffic Statistics, a regular snapshot of airline activity around the world. OAG collates data from more than 1,000 scheduled airlines, on a daily basis, to give an overview of anticipated travel demand.
“Growth rates of this order are, quite frankly, phenomenal,” says Fred Seow, OAG’s Vice President Asia Pacific. “Everyone recognises that China and India are destined to become Asia’s economic powerhouses, and we always knew that would be reflected in increased demand for air travel.
“However, the sheer speed and magnitude of the increases in scheduled flights is probably unparalleled in civil aviation history.”
Among Asia-Pacific airports, the three showing the greatest scheduled service increases are all in India – Kolcata (up 56 per cent), Delhi (up 43 per cent), and Mumbai (up 22 per cent). Significantly, their nearest rival in the region, with ten per cent growth, is Beijing.
Five-year growth figures are equally impressive. This month, airlines will operate 47 per cent more flights to and from the Asia-Pacific region than they did in July 2001. For China and India, the comparable increases are 65 per cent and 84 per cent respectively.
And while the number of intra-Asian flights has risen 34 per cent since the summer of 2001, domestic services in both China and India have more than doubled.
Among the major world regions, the eleven per cent year-on-year increase in scheduled flights to and from Asia-Pacific is surpassed only in the Middle East, which has witnessed a 16 per cent increase.
Airlines have timetabled ten per cent more flights to and from Africa, and nine per cent more to and from Europe. The number of flights to and from the USA and Canada, and to and from Central and South America, has increased in line with the global average.
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