Domestic air passenger traffic continues its enviable growth with the country registering an 18% increase this year compared to last year despite turbulence in the aviation sector. That translates to 77 lakh more domestic passengers flown in the period between January and October this year.

India has now turned into an apt example of the well-known industry fact that passenger traffic growth need not have a correlation with financial health of airlines. Even as airlines in the country bleed, globally, India continued to hog the top slot as far as percentage passenger traffic growth in the domestic sector is concerned.

According to the latest statistics released by the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), domestic airlines in India carried a total of 4.9 crore passengers in the Jan-Oct period this year as compared to 4.2 crore carried in 2010, making it a 18.3% growth.

Then again, International Airline Transport Association ( IATA)'s comparison of domestic passenger growth in six countries (Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, the US) for the period of September shows India in the lead with 18% growth in revenue passenger-kilometres (it is the sum of total number of fare-paying passengers and the kilometre distance they travelled). India is followed by China at 10% and Brazil at 7%. India has had an enviable domestic passenger traffic growth for some time now.