Data for March 2009 released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for scheduled international traffic shows continued declines. Passenger demand fell to 11.1% below March 2008 levels while airlines cut international passenger capacity by 4.4% resulting in an average load factor of 72.1% a 5.4% decline from March 2008. Air freight demand, a crucial indicator of global economic activity …

At a recently meeting of the infrastructure committee of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce we had the opportunity to hear from Mr. Marcel Hungerbuehler about India’s second greenfield private airport Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), which opened last May. Based on his discussions and presentation, I compiled some graphs on airport and air travel performance. There is little doubt …