More people have travelled in airplanes than in AC trains for the first time
- India is now the third largest aviation market - Passenger traffic growth is in the range of 18-20% over the past three years - More people have travelled in airplanes than in AC trains for the first time - Domestic air passengers crossed 100 million in 2017 - A National Civil Aviation Policy was unveiled in 2016 [...] To verify the claim about the number of people travelling by air being greater than those travelling by AC train, the passenger data provided in the annual reports of the DGCA were compared with data provided in the statistical statements of the Indian Railways. The Indian Railways publishes an annual document titled ‘Statistical Statements’ that gives a breakup of the number of passengers that were carried in that year by the class in which they travelled. This data was aggregated to find the number of people who travelled by AC class in trains between 2012-13 and 2016-17. Total passenger traffic of the AC class is calculated by including the traffic in AC First Class, AC Sleeper Class, AC 3 Tier & AC Chair Car. Total passenger traffic of Airlines is calculated by including both domestic & international passenger traffic. Claim Check: We find that for the first time in 2016-17, unlike the previous years, the number of people who travelled by Airplane is higher than those who travelled in all AC class of trains. Thus, the 3rd claim is also TRUE.