Indian domestic aviation market registered fastest growth in 2018 at 18.6%: IATA

India registered the highest domestic passenger growth in the world at 18.6 percent YoY, followed by China at 11.7 percent, as per a report released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

In the report, IATA opined that the growth in the domestic market was seen in the Asian countries due to "robust economic expansion". It specifically highlighted India, which saw a double digit growth for the 50th consecutive month.

"In China, there have been some recent signs of slowdown in passenger demand, reflecting increasing concerns of a moderation in economic activity," IATA said in a statement.

"Last year was another year of strong passenger demand as aviation continued to support the global economy. We expect similar if somewhat moderating performance in 2019," said Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive officer, IATA.

Apart from India and China, Russia registered a growth rate of 9 percent, followed by USA (5.5 percent) and Brazil (4.8 percent).

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had released December aviation numbers in early 2019 which said that Indian airlines flew 139 million domestic passengers in 2018. The airlines carried 13 million passengers in December against 11.2 in November 2018, rising by close to 13 percent (month-on-month).

Domestic passenger market had grown by 17.3 percent, 23.3 percent and 20.3 percent in 2017, 2016 and 2015 (Y-o-Y) respectively.

The Association has said that concerns over Brexit and trade war between US and China are “creating uncertainty” midst positive outlook for the sector. According to IATA, the global passenger growth remained flat in 2018 against 2017 at seven percent, which could be due subdued growth in the second half of 2018.