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Hit by high fuel prices, air traffic slows down

     New Delhi: Unprecedented rise in fuel prices which have doubled since 2003 has severely affected the growth in international passenger and cargo traffice. According to figures releaseed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) the overall growth rate in the passenger sector was 8.3 percent in the first eight months of the current year, while the growth in international freight traffic was 3.6 percent during the reporting period. On year-on-year comparisions for August showed slower growth than for the previous seven months for international passenger at 6.1 percent and cargo traffic at 2.8 percent. Europe and Asia-Pacific regions registered the lowest growth in passenger traffic at five and 5.8 per cent in revenue passenger per kilometre (RPK) respectively. RPK reflects actual passenger traffic. IATA represents 265 airlines comprising 94 percent of international scheduled air traffic Due to the rising crude prices, several airlines have imposed fuel surcharges to meet the ballooning fuel bill, which adversely affected the traffic, said Giovanni Bisignani IATA Director General and CEO in a statement. "It appears that consumer confidence is being damaged by the rise in oil and gasoline prices," he said.
-Oct 5,  2005

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