India is the 9th largest aviation market in the world.

The first meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the 15th Lok Sabha, was held today under the Chairmanship of Shri Praful Patel, Minister of Civil Aviation.
The Members of the Committee were welcomed to this first meeting by the Minister and given a detailed presentation about the Civil Aviation sector. The following important information about the sector was given to the Members:-
Major Milestones
· India is the 9th largest aviation market in the world.
· 29.8 million passengers traveled to/from India during 2008. Increase of 30% on previous year. International passengers will grow upto 50 million by 2015.
· International flights 706 per week (increase of 53% over the previous year). Schedule air services available to/from 82 airports (only 50 in early 2000).
· Enhanced opportunities and international connectivity – 69 foreign airlines from 49 countries are flying into India.

Growth in Domestic Sector
· Growth of 69% from 2005 to 2008 in number of domestic flights.
· Domestic passenger base of 87 million.
· India ranks fourth after US, China and Japan in terms of domestic passengers volume.
· Expected growth rate - @ 9-10% to reach a level of 150-180 million passengers by 2020.
· Scheduled domestic operators – 15
· Fleet size has risen to more than 400 thereby stimulating first time domestic traffic.

Growth in International Cargo
· Annual growth of 12.8% during the last 5 years in the international cargo handled at all Indian airports.
· 2001-02 - 560.2 thousand metric tones.
· 2006-07 - 1020.9 thousand metric tones.

Civil Aviation in India
· Market has more than doubled between 2003 & 2007 - passengers and aircraft.
· New airlines, budget travelers and a robust economy – Complementing each other and fueling growth.
· Increase in Operational Airports – 50 to 82 in last 4 years.
· North East Connectivity: 87 flt/wk to 287 flt/wk in 5 years (230% increase).
· $100 spent on air transport produces benefits worth $325 (ICAO).
· In a very short time India has become the 9th biggest aviation market in the world.
· Air travel has become affordable for the middle class.
· The spectacular growth is just the tip of the iceberg - India has the least penetrated market for air travel – lower than even Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
· India has 0.02 trips per capita as compared to 0.1 of China and 2.2 of USA.
· There has been an increase in tourist charter flights to India - 686 flights in 2008 brought in 1,50,000 tourists.
· There has been an increase in non-scheduled operator permits – 99 in 2008 as against 66 in 2007 (Growth @ 50%).
· There has also been an Increase in the number of domestic scheduled operators/regional scheduled operators.

Increase in number of aircraft:
Total Registered aircraft- 1375, Scheduled- 397, Non-Scheduled- 275, Miscellaneous- 701, Registration of aircraft in 2008- 213
The Members were also informed about the growth in the helicopter industry in India, the strengthening of the DGCA, the recent developments of BCAS and the current developments in the airport sector.
Cutting across party lines, the Members congratulated the Minister for becoming the Minister for Civil Aviation for the second term and expressed happiness at the PM having shown his faith on Shri Praful Patel’s efforts in developing the aviation sector. The Members highlighted various issues and drew the attention of the Minister and the Ministry towards them. Some of the important issues discussed were, the requirement for further development of the sector, to bring air travel to the masses, the naming of airports, concerns about Air India’s financial crisis, growth potential for air cargo, development of the helicopter sector and more airport infrastructure in the sensitive North-Eastern parts of the country. The Members also said that there should be a policy paper on the aviation sector highlighting the causes of its downturn so that effective policy changes could be made wherever required to help the sector grow again. The Members assured the Minister of their fullest support and cooperation.
The Members of the Committee who attended today’s meeting were Shri Vilas Muttemwar, Shri Ninong Ering, Shri Mithlesh Kumar, Dr. Prasanna K. Patasani, Shri Dilip Gandhi, Shri Ram Singh Kaswan, Shri Manicka Tagore, Shri Anandrao Vithoba Adsul, Shri Poorika Balram Naik and Shri Pinaki Misra, from Lok Sabha and Shri Santosh Bagrodia, Shri Tarlochan Singh, Shri Abdul Wahab Peevee, Shri Sanjay Raut, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Shri Avtar Singh Karimpuri from Rajya Sabha.
25/11/09 PRESS RELEASE/Press Information Bureau

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

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Nov 2009