Economic slump drags BIA down

Economic slump drags BIA down
Passenger Traffic Set To Dive By 10%
Anshul Dhamija | TNN

Bangalore: For more proof that the storm buffeting Indian aviation will claim victims other than carriers, look no further than the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). The phenomenal growth of passenger air traffic out of Bangalore has suddenly hit the brakes.
For the first time since the aviation boom began five years ago, Bangalore’s passenger air traffic is expected to nosedive by 10%, for the year ending 2008-09. Going by previous years, analysts had predicted that traffic would touch 11.5 million passengers this fiscal. Now, due to emergence of international and domestic economic air pockets, Bangalore International Airport Limited, BIA’s promoter, is projecting passenger traffic of 9.2 million. The figure for 2007-08 stood at 10.12 million, an increase of 24.4% over 2006-07.
In the past three years, the city’s average growth in passenger air traffic was 35.2%, the highest in India and more than double of India’s passenger growth figures.
Albert Brunner, CEO,
BIAL, said, “Since June,
there has been a dramatic
fall in monthly traffic at all
Indian airports. Current projection for 2008-09 is 9.2 million passengers.”
Latest data on passenger traffic for July, available with the Airports Authority of India, shows the country’s busiest airports — Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad — reported a 15.5% drop in traffic over the same period in 2007.
The number of domestic flyers in the country in July fell to 58.51 lakh as compared to 68.77 lakh the previous July, a 14.9%. fall. Initial figures from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation indicate September saw an 18.5% dip in passenger traffic compared to the previous year. At 27.19 lakh, it has plunged to a five-year low.
“Traffic growth at airports across the country has slowed down and Bangalore reflects this trend. The economic downturn and high fuel charges have resulted in traffic not picking up in late August and September. Traditionally, May, June and July are low periods in the airline industry,” said Brunner.
Just before BIA’s launch in May, BIAL estimated the airport would handle 480 air traffic movements per day in the summer season and 550 air traffic movements a day in the winter season. But figures given by BIAL show the airport handled only 325 air traffic movements a day in the summer schedule and would handle 330 air traffic movements in the winter schedule, a minuscule growth of 1.5%. That is a drop of 32.29% and 40% from BIAL’s earlier estimates. When BIA opened in May, it handled 340 air traffic movements. This dipped to 325 air traffic movements by the end of the summer schedule.