Article Posted on : - Dec 15, 2008

A file photo of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

NEW DELHI (BNS): After years of boom, the Indian aviation industry has fallen to its lowest levels as it registered a negative growth during January to October this year.

The growth declined by 1.94 per cent compared to last year during the same period, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Parliament on Friday.

"The domestic passenger growth in the country declined to negative 1.9 per cent during the period January to October 2008," he said in reply to a question.

The passenger traffic in the country grew by 46.5 per cent in 2006. In 2007, it was 32.5 per cent only. Similarly, the airlines carried 55.39 lakh passengers during the period against 81.26 lakh in 2007. In the previous years of 2006 and 2005, the passenger load was 69.03 lakh and 67.85 lakh respectively.

Even the national carrier Air India lost its dominance. The airline’s share declined to 16 per cent between January and October this year. It held 18.8 per cent share last year. The decline has been continuous as the airline was 21.1 per cent strong in 2006 and 30.4 per cent in 2005.

The figures shared by the Government do not tell an encouraging story but were not unexpected either. The aviation sector's downturn is in line with the ongoing trend in global economy. Even the country’s industrial growth posted a negative figure in the month of October.

The officials are hoping for a revival because if the trend continues, a large number of airlines would have to fold their business. The only silver lining has been provided by a cut in the aviation turbine fuel price. The Government wants to transfer the benefit to passengers but the airlines are unwilling to do so as they have already incurred heavy losses.

Most of the airlines take fuel on credit and they have to pay back to the government by April 2009. Despite slowdown, the Centre has not indicated if it will give a comprehensive bail out package though it has announced several steps to reduce the impact of the ongoing crisis.