Right time to invest in civil aviation: Mallya

Kochi: This is the best of times to invest in India's civil aviation sector, Kingfisher Airlines chairman and industrialist Vijay Mallya has said.
The Indian economy was `getting stronger and better' and the demand for air travel had been increasing by the day, Mr. Mallya said in an address to the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation's 11th `AGM and CEO conference' which opened here on Sunday.
The civil aviation sector had been growing exponentially over the past few years because of the Government's `open sky' policy and the economic boom.
Indicating the substantial growth potential of the sector, Mr. Mallya said India had placed the largest order with Airbus for new aircraft and that it was also a leading customer of Boeing.
He complained that the bureaucracy was nervous to deviate from the beaten tracks of the past. "It's time to think differently." People should not be punished for entrepreneurship and creativity. He, however, complimented Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who was `thinking like a businessman.' Mr. Mallya urged civil aviation administrators to start a `constructive dialogue' with their defence counterparts on the need to substantially downsize the military airspace.
Mr. Mallya said one of the pressing needs of the sector was to open new short-cut direct routes. Since non-stop `ultra long haul' travel was becoming increasingly common and since aviation turbine fuel was becoming expensive, short direct routes were necessary.
21/05/07 The Hindu

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: General Aviation May 2007