International air passenger movement up 13pc in Q1

International air passenger movement through Nepal rose 13.35 percent in the first three months of 2012 with higher migrant worker traffic and tourist arrivals.

According to Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), inbound and outbound volume reached 717,182 during the period January-March against 632,723 in the same period last year. The number of international flight movements swelled to 5,693, up 9.69 percent from 5,190 previously. Nepal is served by 27 international carriers.

Qatar Airways, Spice Jet, Air India, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air and Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) saw the strongest growth in passenger movement in the first quarter of 2012.

Qatar Airways topped the chart posting a significant growth of 42.11 percent, followed by Jet Airways and NAC. Qatar Airways flew 91,228 passengers in Q1 against 64,193 in Q1 of 2011.

NAC recorded a 17.07 percent growth in passengers. NAC spokesperson Raju Bahadur KC said the national flag carrier’s emphasis on timely flights since the beginning of 2012 was the key reason for the rise.

“NAC has fully utilized its flights due to minimal technical glitches. As a result passenger occupancy was comparatively higher in the first quarter of 2012,” KC said. NAC has two ageing Boeing 757s connecting five international destinations.

According to NAC, increased labour traffic was the major reason that all carriers connecting Nepal saw a robust increase. Labour traffic accounts for around 80 percent of seat demand on all international airlines connecting Nepal.

Jet Airways posted a 5.82 percent growth while Air Arabia’s passenger movement fell 10.08 percent in the first three months. Air India was up 33.02 percent while another Indian carrier Spice Jet achieved the highest growth of 54.61 percent.  Similarly, Etihad Airways and Gulf Air also recorded growths of 20.38 percent and 19.77 percent respectively. Thai Airways and Jet Lite recorded only 2.75 percent and 4.22 percent passenger growth respectively in the first quarter of 2012.

source:The Kathmandu Post,14 June 2012