Saturday, August 31, 2013

50 new low-cost airports this year within deadlines set by PM:Secretary, Civil Aviation

50 new low-cost airports this year within deadlines set by PM
The government decided to set up 50 new low-cost airports this year and 50 next year, with an aim to give boost to civil aviation sector and increase air connectivity to Tier-II and Tier-III cities and also able to deliver on timeframe given by Prime Minster, said Mr K.N. Srivastava, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation at an ASSOCHAM conference held in New Delhi today.

While inaugurating the ASSOCHAM 6th international conference on Civil Aviation & Tourism here, Mr. Srivastava said, the state-owned airport operator, would set up the low-cost airports in 50 cities in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

“Civil Aviation ministry has called a meeting of ministers and secretaries of states to finalize policy of regional connectivity. The meeting is scheduled for September 10 in New Delhi”, said Mr Srivastava while addressing the media.

Mr. Srivastava also said, “Navi Mumbai, Pune, Goa and Patna airports are facing capacity constraints. On the other hand, Chennai do not suffer from any capacity constraint today but in the next 6-7 years and can also face capacity constraints and that is the only reason that the Government is considering Sriperumbudur”.

In order to stimulate the air connectivity, airlines are expected to add around 370 aircrafts, worth US$ 27.5 billion, to their fleet by the year 2017, said Mr. Srivastava. Moreover, it is estimated that commercial fleet size shall reach 1000 from 400 today by 2020.

“We are committed for the development of the sector and have introduced several policies and regulations to encourage private participation and investments in the sector”, said Mr. Srivastava.

 “To spur the growth of international air travel, the government has taken substantial steps to liberalize and grant traffic rights to Indian carriers to fly to several new destinations across the globe. There are 71 foreign passenger airlines operating in India at 25 airports with 1655 flights per week. In addition, in the year 2012, there were 703 tourist charted flights that carried 1.30 lakhs passengers”, added Mr. Srivastava.

He also mentioned that the Government is planning to invest over US$ 120 billion in the development of airports infrastructure (construction of new airports, expansion and modernization of existing airports) & development of low cost airports all across the country.


“The government has taken significant measures for providing affordable air-connectivity to remote and interior areas of the country- the North Eastern Region and Tier-II & Tier-III cities of India and all these measures will go a long way in providing new avenues to the domestic part of the tourism sector”, said Mr. Srivastava.

Smt Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Minister for Culture said, “Cultures serves as the foundation on which the builing of Tourism can be built. But without good communication and connectivity we will not be able to reach global audiences. Once we have the inflow of international tourists, there will automatically be an increase in trade and commerce”.

During the conference, Mr. Srivastava along with Smt Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Minister for Culture, Mr T.K.A. Nair, Adviser to Prime Minister of India. (PMO), Mr K Narayana Rao, Chairman, ASSOCHAM Civil Aviation Committee (National Civil Aviation Policy) and Mr. D.S. Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM released an ASSOCHAM-Yes Bank study titled ‘Civil Aviation- Flying into next growth orbit’.

“The civil aviation industry is an important engine for innovation and technological progress in a world of decreasing trade barriers and global footprint. A comprehensive National Civil Aviation Policy for India to address key issues related to infrastructure, cost of operations and high taxation will bring the much needed strategic vision and direction to the sector. The establishment of the Civil Aviation Authority, as a replacement to the DGCA, will be a positive step towards setting up an autonomous regulator for the industry”, said Mr. Rana Kapoor, President ASSOCHAM.

It is undeniable that the next growth in civil aviation will come from tourism and a collaborative approach is needed to achieve common goals and objectives. This is also highly synergetic with Incredible India’s recent campaigns - ‘Find what you seek…’ and ‘Go beyond…’- which aim to take tourism beyond ‘honeypot’ destinations into the lesser known regions of the country, said Mr. Kapoor.

Ligare was given the award for being the most versatile company in aviation, SafeExpress, the best air cargo logistics, ‘Boeing’ the best global aviation company, Indigo, the best Airline (national) and “British airways”, the best Airline(International) and Frankfin, the best training institute.