Coimbatore among fastest growing air traffic cities

Spurred by cheap fares and rapid economic growth, the fastest growth in the number of air passengers is taking place in smaller cities like Pune, Raipur, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad, to name a few.

Based on figures from state-owned carriers, these airports grew between 60 per cent and 82 per cent in calendar 2006 over the previous year.

In contrast, major airports like Mumbai and Delhi grew by over 20 per cent and over 35 per cent, respectively, though, strictly, comparisons are not possible since the two operate on a far higher base of 22.25 million and 20.44 million passengers.

The growth in the number of air passengers in small cities reflects the growth of both manufacturing and service industries in small-town India, which, in turn, has spurred purchasing power.

It is also a result of moves by budget carriers to aggressively tap these markets by starting new services, helped by the government’s airport upgrade programme.

Said Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, “The growth of Indian civil aviation has taken the benefits beyond ‘Mumbai-Delhi economy’ to non-metro cities and the main growth will come from cities like Pune, Ahmedabad and so on.”

Pune is a case in point. “Many companies, primarily from the IT industry, have decided to set up shop there,” says Kapil Kaul, aviation analyst and CEO, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). The city is also emerging as a auto-manufacturing hub.

Raipur is another hot emerging market. “Raipur is an important mining centre with many steel and cement units located there. Also, its location is very strategic and makes for easy connectivity. We will have a Delhi-Raipur flight in a couple of months,” says Ajay Singh, director of budget carrier SpiceJet. Raipur has almost 12 flights a day.

Ahmedabad has 50 flights a day. Spice Jet and Air Deccan operate 15, connecting it to major cities and places like Pune, Vadodara, Coimbatore and Jaipur.

According to CAPA estimates, 30 small cities, including Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Jaipur, Srinagar, Cochin and Coimbatore, will see huge growth in air travel in the near future.