The Hindu Business Line : Slowdown hits domestic biz at new Hyderabad airport

Hyderabad, Oct. 28 In September, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport witnessed nearly 600 less air traffic movements (5,229) in the domestic segment when compared to 5,795 at the Begumpet airport in same month last year.

This reflects the direct impact of the slowdown that forced several domestic airlines to cut down many flights.

The downtrend, which began in July, might result in a likely reduction of 20-25 per cent in the targeted revenues of the airport, which is promoted by the GMR group.

“We hope that the situation will improve in the wake of steep fall in oil prices. However, if the present situation continues, the ballpark (estimate) for reduction in revenues could be in range of 20-25 per cent,” Mr P.S. Nair, Chief Executive Officer of RJIA, told Business Line.

Crisis Cycle

He pointed out that the crisis was part of a cycle the aviation industry underwent every five years.

RJIA commenced operations in March 2008, halting commercial operations at Begumpet airport.

The air traffic movements (take offs and landings) in the domestic segment plummeted to 5,229 in September 2008 as against 5,795 in the same month last year. Initially, the new airport witnessed higher air traffic movements. In April the number grew to 6,746 from 5,716. The following month it saw an increase of almost 900. However, the figure began to fall since July.

Numbers’ Crash

The number of passengers flying in September fell by nearly one lakh to 3.27 lakh (4.24 lakh).

RJIA initially started off with a higher domestic passenger count with 4.61 lakh (4.47 lakh) in April. The number started to decrease from June. The decline in domestic passengers was attributed to reduction of flights in the wake of huge oil bills for airlines. With regard to RJIA, the reason was partly due to reduction in the number of short-haul flights by the airlines, keeping in mind the lesser interest of patrons.

International air traffic movements always showed an increase at the new airport. While it grew to 862 in April 2008 from 826 last year, the number went up to 978 (941) in September. But in July the number peaked at 1,006 (872).

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