New Delhi: Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia asked domestic airlines to help set up an international civil aviation hub in India.
Addressing a session titled Transforming the Aviation Sector" organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday in New Delhi at the Taj Hotel, the Union Minister said, "Take a risk, face volatility, India's flag has to fly high in international airspace."
He further asked the airlines to spread their business on international routes, rather than competing in a domestic sector where the margin is low. It is pertinent to note here that the civil aviation ministry has been pitching for having more wide-body planes with domestic carriers so that they can operate more direct flights to international destinations.
His comments came in the backdrop of the GoFirst crisis where the cash-stripped airline filed for bankruptcy and there are hundreds of passengers who booked the airlines flights' before the DGCA's intervention are still waiting for their funds which account for more than 300 crores, as per the reports. In a reply on Tuesday to DGCA's show cause notice, the airline expressed indications to resume the flights earliest.
Talking about Air India's record-breaking order of 470 aircraft in February 2023, Scindia said "Prime Minister has democratized civil aviation in the country and expressed" and the industry has witnessed tremendous growth in the past nine years. "Over the past four to five years, civil aviation has experienced a remarkable compounded annual growth rate of 10.6 per cent. The domestic passenger count has surged from approximately 60 million in 2013-14 to 144 million today. During the same period of nine years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the number of airports, wardrobes, and heliports in the country has doubled, reaching 148", he said.
He further said that "festival and winter seasons are expected to witness higher domestic air traffic demand and emphasised that "efforts are underway to ramp up overall capacity." The minister in his address noted that the aviation industry was the worst struck industry during the pandemic and added that post the pandemic, the Indian aviation Industry witnessed a V shape recovery and "CAGR for the domestic air traffic stood at 10.6 per cent in the last eight to nine years", he said.
