Domestic air passenger traffic up by 13% in Sept

New Delhi: Domestic air passenger traffic surged over 13 percent, the highest among seven major global aviation markets including China and the US, in September over the year-ago period, international air transport body IATA said Thursday.

At the same time, global travel demand rose by 7.8 percent in September compared to the same period of 2014 with all markets except Brazil logging growth, IATA said.

India recorded the strongest growth during the month with domestic air traffic spiking 13.2 percent, followed by China and Russia, it said.

"The demand for air travel in September was robust even with the economic slowdown in some key emerging markets such as China.

The industry seems set for a positive end to 2015," Tony Tyler, IATA's Director General and Chief Executive Officer, said.

While the overall outlook is for a collective profit that covers the industry's cost of capital, parts of the industry are really struggling, he said.

Domestic demand, however, in Brazil slipped 1.3 percent in the reporting month as the economy slid further into recession with rising unemployment, and the Brazilian Real continued to decline against Dollar, it said.

"Aviation's connectivity is vital to the health and well being of the global economy. And financial strength is critical to the industry delivering its best," Tyler said.

The poor economic performance in Brazil is having a dramatic negative impact on the industry's performance in Latin America's largest market, he said, adding there are a number of swift policy options the government could take to stimulate the sector by reducing the burden of onerous taxes, punitive regulation and a crippling fuel pricing regime.

A comprehensive policy response would unleash the power of aviation connectivity and pay big dividends across the economy, he said.