New Delhi July 5 (IANS) Strong growth in network expansion led to double-digit growth in India s domestic air passenger traffic for the 45th consecutive month in May even as the rise in demand came down in the last few months a global airline association said on Thursday.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) India s domestic air passenger volume measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) was the highest among major aviation markets like Australia Brazil China Japan Russia and the US.
As per data India s domestic RPK in the month under review rose by 16.6 per cent in May compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
However on a sequential basis the growth had come down from April s rise of 25.7 per cent.
"India s domestic traffic rose 16.6 per cent year-over-year which was down from 25.7 per cent in April. Passenger volumes in India have fallen back in seasonally-adjusted terms in recent months alongside some mixed signals on the economic front " IATA said in its global passenger traffic results for May 2018.
"Notwithstanding this May was India s 45th consecutive month of double-digit annual RPK growth. Demand continues to be supported by strong growth in the number of airport connections within the country: some 22 per cent more airport-pairs are scheduled to operate in 2018 compared to last year."
India s domestic passenger traffic growth was followed by that of China at 11.9 per cent and Russian Federation at 8.6 per cent.
In terms of capacity India s domestic available seat kilometres (ASK) -- which measures available passenger capacity -- climbed higher by 18 per cent in May followed by that of China s 12.5 per cent growth and Russian Federation at 7.5 per cent.

--IANS rv/him/vm