India, China, LatAm markets boost global aviation

New Delhi: The global aviation market has experienced a rebound mainly because of growing air traffic in India, China and Latin America, which grew by 16.5 per cent in April says an International Air Transport Association (IATA) report. The rise was recorded despite high oil prices, the Iceland volcanic disruption, disturbances  in the Middle East and the tsunami in Japan that disrupted air travel.

Over the last five years, Indian domestic market expansion has been the "strongest with a tripling in size", according to the latest report by IATA.

In spite of such "significant" growth in demand, the profits of the airline industry were being squeezed by a series of crises and shocks that have marked the first four months of this year, it said.

"Their impact on demand will continue to ease as we move into the second half (of this year)," IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani is quoted as saying.

India and Brazil showed the strongest domestic growth at 25.6 and 23.8 per cent respectively. "Both are continuing their trend of high-speed growth," the report said.

China's domestic market saw a decline in growth to 10.8 per cent this April though it remained a robust market.

"Over the last five years, Indian domestic expansion has been the strongest with a tripling in size. China and Brazil doubled in size over the same period," it said.

"The strength in Chinese and Indian markets helped offset the weakness in routes associated with Japan. Japan's international traffic is down 20 per cent, knocking a full one per cent off of total international travel," the report said.