President Pratibha Patil for expansion of aviation sector to further trade

Mumbai: Underlining the importance of aviation in economic development of countries, President Pratibha Patil on Monday sought "flexible business modules" for expansion of the aviation industry.
"Innovative and flexible business modules may be evolved, enabling greater connectivity between countries to promote people-to-people contacts, as well as trade and business.
"To achieve this, governments must continually negotiate new bilateral treaties, to allow for and expand access to new and emerging markets for their carriers," Patil said inaugurating the fourth International Civil Aviation Negotiation (ICAN) conference in Mumbai.
She said airlines could act as "goodwill ambassadors" to connect people across the globe.
"Flying is no longer the prerogative of a few privileged, but an option for an increasingly broader section of society. Airlines could be goodwill ambassadors to bring nations and peoples together," the President, who is on a two-day visit of Mumbai, said.
The rapidly expanding aviation sector handles 2.5 billion passengers across the world in a year; moves 45 million tonnes of cargo through 920 airlines, using 4,200 airports and deploying 27,000 aircraft.
"Such a large scale global operation requires that experts of Member States of International Civil Aviation Organisation must gather frequently, to evolve consensus and co-ordination on various issues to ensure a universally safe and secure international aviation sector," she said.
17/10/11 PTI/Economic Times

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Categories: Foreign Oct 2011, Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2011