Air India not synonymous with civil aviation

He quips that the crisis at Air India is not the only issue in the aviation industry, like it is made out to be at the moment but Minister of Civil Aviation Praful Patel is quick to point out that it can’t be dismissed either given the social obligations that Air India has to fulfill. Even as he says that the government cannot bailout an airline, he admits in an interview with ET that they are looking at ways to address the issues that the sector is grappling with. Excerpts:
Given the crisis that we are currently seeing at Air India, do you believe that the government has been efficient enough in its administration of the civil aviation space?
Fundamentally, I would like to point out that Air India is not synonymous with the civil aviation sector. The government has tried to build up a backbone for the country. We are looking at broadening our footprint to about 125 operational airports over the next five years and further at creating an aviation grid for the future such that the maximum distance between two airports is not more than 50 to 100 kilometres.
Mind you, out of the 85 operational airports, about 70 don’t make any money and yet we have to invest to make them safe and efficient to cater to the needs of people. In fact, the question of airlines only comes into play once the backbone is ready. Once the infrastructure is in place, any airline can come and go.
30/08/09 Lisa Mary Thomson & Shantanu Nandan Sharma/Economic Times

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Aug 2009, NACIL Aug 2009