The Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines may be struggling to stitch together a flight plan to stay afloat. Jet Airways could be facing tax problems of its own. Five out of the six Indian carriers have posted losses over the last three quarters.
But chieftains of global aviation industry describe this phase as but another “air pocket,” which will soon pass and clear the runway for domestic aviation to take off on a more sustainable growth path.
This, clearly, was the postscript of the five-day ‘India Aviation 2012' that recently concluded in Hyderabad, attracting global players in the airlines, airport and engine manufacturing sectors.
Indeed, the Indian aviation sector gained substantial altitude during the Eleventh Plan period, climbing to the perch of the ninth largest civil aviation market in 2011.
Not only did passenger throughput swell from 73 million in 2005-06 to about 150 million last year, but this period also saw four international airports getting completed.
The investment made by private airport operators was about Rs 30,000 crore in the last five years, involving greenfield airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore and modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports. Not only this, by 2011, five Indian carriers were operating on international routes and India had bilateral agreements with 104 countries.
But, aviation experts maintain, this is only the beginning of the Indian aviation story. India now plans to be among the top three aviation markets by 2020.
25/03/12 Amit Mitra/Business Line
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
0 comments:
Post a Comment