Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said that there was a 170% jump in domestic travellers in the past nine years and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Udaan scheme led to a proliferation of travel to unconnected cities like Jharusuguda in Odisha and Kishangarh in Rajasthan.
Speaking to Business Today TV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi at BT's India@100 Summit, Jyotiraditya Scindia said the number of domestic passengers had grown from 6 crore in 2014 to 14.5 crore, an increase of nearly 170%. He further said that this number (14.5 crore) will reach 42.5 crore by 2030-35 because of the economic growth. "Silent revolution is happening in the aviation sector," said Scindia.
Scindia also said that civil aviation will exceed the first and second AC train passengers by 2030-35. He also underlined the speed with which the government was increasing connectivity by making new airports. He said till 2014, there were 74 airports in the country. But in the last nine years, he said that the government built 148 airports, including helipads and water aerodromes - which means 7.5 per year as opposed to one per year. "In the next five years, this number will cross 200 airports," added the Aviation Minister.
Jyotiraditya Scindia further said that the number of aircraft too had risen in the last nine years. "In 2014, there were 400 aircraft which has now gone up to 700, a jump of 70-80%. This number will easily cross 1,200-1,300 by 2030-35. The growth in aviation is monumental," Scindia told Zarabi.
Union Minister Jyoriraditya Scindia also sounded confident about India regaining its market share in the global aviation sector. He said he wanted to regain the country's position in the international skies that it had in the 60s. "With more than 500 IndiGo flights and 470 Air India aircraft, we will take our flag all across the world and regain our market share in civil aviation on the international front." He noted that mega aircraft orders by Indian carriers IndiGo and Air India will also help the country regain its position in the international skies, which it had held from the 1960s through 1970s.
Talking about major developments in the aviation sector, Jyoriraditya Scindia reiterated that the country that had sub-planted its national flag on the Moon’s surface on August 23, would soon be flying it across seven seas on its carriers. He said, "The first time between Airbus and Boeing, you have Airbus that has supplanted a production facility within India for the C295 aircraft, based in Vadodara. Our order is for 56 aircraft, 16 will come fully built out from their facility in Spain, and the balance 40 will be made in India.”
In the conversation with BTTV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi, Jyotiraditya Scindia further said that he did not want to make an international hub in India, he wanted multiple international hubs. "And it will happen - starting with Delhi. I want an international hub in south India, in central India, in east India, in north India."
Describing the rapid growth currently being witnessed in India’s civil aviation industry as ‘monumental’ Jyotiraditya Scindia said that Delhi airport would be climbing up the rankings to be among the top three globally. “Delhi Airport today has a throughput capability of close to 70 million passengers. By the end of this year or early next year, Delhi airport will grow to 109 million passengers,” he said, adding, “that’s the way, the country is going to transform from a logistics and transportation standpoint, from metro cities down to tertiary cities.”
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is the country’s busiest airport and has four runways and a throughput capacity of 70 million passengers currently. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is very keen to develop IGIA as part of its strategy to make the country into a global aviation hub.