text: 464 pilots, 1,384 cabin crew, 657 engineers and 3,007 airport, customer service and security staff graduated from ifly this year.
  Operated over 170 cargo flights during the 2 months of non-operation carrying 1,110 tonnes of cargo including essentials and medical supplies.
  Operated more than 290 repatriation flights serving around 45,000 passengers till June 2020. Fleet size increased to 262 aircraft – added 45 net aircraft during the year Flying to over 55 Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with 15 new routes added under the UDAAN scheme during the year
  Airlines around the world are confronting the challenge of a sharp decline in demand, complicated by uncertainty as to when the virus will be under control and travel can return to normal.
  The collapse in demand has led major global airlines to announce severe cost-cutting measures, urgent requests for government assistance, and in some cases, grounding of the fleet.
  Given the global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic that threatens to throw many economies into recession, it could take passenger air travel demand anywhere from several months to several years to recover to 2019 levels.
  This return to normalcy in airline travel will depend on multiple factors including the speed of virus containment, lifting of country border closures, restoration of confidence in air travel, and a return to normal economic and social activity.
  In the medium to long term, once the crisis is over, the demand outlook for aviation remains very strong in India largely driven by under-penetration, rise in the working population, and expansion of the middle class.
  After rapid expansion over the last decade when Indian aviation registered a Compound Annual Growth Rate (“CAGR”) of around 13.6% in domestic demand measured in terms of Revenue Passenger Kilometers (“RPKs”), it slowed down to 5% in 2019.
  The deceleration in growth was primarily driven by supply-side constraints due to industry consolidation subsequent to the cessation of operations of Jet Airways. Adding significantly to industry headwinds, COVID-19 hit the aviation Industry in Q4 FY 2020.
  In response to the virus, the Government banned international flights with effect from March 22, 2020 and domestic flights with effect from March 25, 2020. Even before these extraordinary measures were taken, the travel demand started to slow down significantly. This had a major impact on the financial performance of the Indian carriers.
  The civil aviation industry in India has emerged as one of India’s fastest-growing sectors over the past few years. India has now become the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world.
  The Indian aviation industry has seen an expansion in the total number of passengers from 27.73 million in Q4 FY 2016 to 44.63 million in Q3 FY 2020, growing at a CAGR of 12.6% during the period.
  As per IBEF report by 2036, India is projected to have 480 million passengers, which will be more than that of Japan (just under 225 million) and Germany (just over 200 million) combined.
  To cater to the rising air traffic, the Government of India has been working towards increasing the number of airports.
  Airport Authority of India (“AAI”) has planned to invest Rs. 25,000 crores (USD 3.58 billion) in the next five years to augment facilities and infrastructure at the airports. As of March 2019, India had 103 operational airports.
  Introduction of new terminals in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata will also add to the infrastructure capacity. Further, The GOI has allowed 100% FDI under automatic route for greenfield and brownfield airport projects.
  Moreover, India’s exports and imports have been growing strongly over the past decade. Growth in trade augurs well for the aviation industry as they handle about 30% of India’s total trade by value
  The share of travel and tourism in India’s GDP was 10.4% in 2018. Indian economy and the aviation industry have a symbiotic relationship and each benefit immensely with the growth of other.
  economic growth has also been greatly benefitted by the growth in aviation industry. According to International Civil Aviation Organization (“ICAO”), for every $100 of output produced and every 100 jobs generated by air transport, an additional demand of around $325 and 610 jobs are triggered in other industries, globally.
  The aviation industry is further expected to increase its share in the Gross Domestic Product and help the economy by creating jobs and an increase in production through trade and tourism.
  Passenger ticket revenue: Passenger ticket revenue increased by 25.0% from Rs. 251,576.91 million in FY 2019 to Rs. 314,470.59 million in FY 2020.
  Revenue from ancillary products and services: Revenue from ancillary products and services primarily include cargo, special service requests, ticket modification and cancellation, in-flight sales and tours. Revenue from ancillary products and services increased by 30.2% from Rs. 30,309.56 million in FY 2019 to Rs. 39,458.47 million in FY 2020.