With growth revised to 14-16%, India's air passenger traffic may reach 380 million in FY24, according to ICRA

According to rating agency ICRA, India's total passenger traffic will reach a new high of 373-380 million with a year-over-year (YoY) growth of 14-16% in the upcoming fiscal year 2024.

In FY24, the rating agency increased its initial projections from 8-13% to 14-16%.

The organisation keeping an eye on the numbers during the festive season has kept the forecast for the Indian airport infrastructure sector for the upcoming year "stable."

As per Mr. Vinay Kumar G., Sector Head of Corporate Ratings at ICRA, “The improved occupancy in other airlines, as well as the addition of new routes, has largely offset the impact of the Go-First bankruptcy on overall passenger traffic, which is also reflected in the 19% YoY growth in domestic passenger traffic during FY24.” He attributed the numbers surpassing pre-COVID levels to a strong increase in domestic business and leisure travel as well as better air connectivity to tier II cities and tourism destinations.

Nonetheless, it is anticipated that non-aero revenue recovery will surpass 120% of pre-Covid levels in FY24. The completion of the development at the Public Private Partnership (PPP) airports will result in the addition of substantial terminal areas, which will force a major increase in leasing rentals.

Over 50-55% of the overall passenger volume is handled by the top five airports (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Cochin), which were built using the PPP model.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.