Civil aviation to give India wings to soar

Hyderabad: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Friday said that the government would be a constructive collaborator with all stakeholders of the aviation sector and work with them for the development of civil aviation.

Formally inaugurating Wings India 2022, Asia's largest event for commercial, general and business aviation at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad on Friday, Scindia said, "We don't believe in square tables, we believe in roundtables at our Ministry to ensure the success of this sector and our country at large. India is looking at tremendous expansion in areas of airlines, airports and every facet of the civil aviation eco-system."

He said being the fastest growing civil aviation market in the world, it proposes to add about 100-120 aircraft every year to meet the growing demand. The Union Minister said that the airline's sector has shown resilience, and by next year it will surpass the pre-Covid number of domestic passengers and it is expected to touch 4.1 lakh per day. In the last seven years, the civil aviation market in India has been expanding. The number of airports in the country had gone up from 74 in 2013-14 to almost 140 (including heliports and water domes).

The number is likely to go up to 220 by 2024-25, he said. "Hawaii chappal pehene wala bhi hawai jahaz main udd paye," highlighting this statement, Scindia further said that regional connectivity is the focus of the government with the provision of last-mile connectivity.

The Small Aircraft Sub-Scheme with the primary objective of facilitating and stimulating regional air connectivity by creating a growth-oriented framework with a specific focus on operations through small aircraft (including seaplanes) was launched. Udaan is a mission to connect every single citizen and make flights accessible to the common man and 409 routes have been identified under the scheme. Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan said about 14 per cent of the Indian civil aviation industry is served by women which is higher than the global average. "Being a woman Governor, I request that more and more women be encouraged in the civil aviation sector," she said.