India envisions 350 to 400 airports in coming decades, says civil aviation minister Naidu – Times of India

India envisions 350 to 400 airports in coming decades, says civil aviation minister Naidu – Times of India



MUMBAI: India might be increasing its regional air connectivity, civil aviation minister, Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu stated in a current public handle including that the nation might have 350 to 400 airports within the coming 20 to 25 years.
The minister, who was talking at FICCI’s India Regional Air Mobility Convention 2024, spoke concerning the authorities’s intention to increase the Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) for one more ten years past its present finish date in 2027.”Our imaginative and prescient is to increase the RCS UDAN scheme for an additional ten years,” Naidu stated. “We’re already making ready a brand new programme to make it much more spectacular, not just for the civil aviation sector however maintaining in thoughts the widespread man of this nation and making air journey extra inexpensive for them.”
The UDAN scheme, launched in 2016, has enhanced regional air connectivity in India. Naidu highlighted its success, stating, “By operationalizing over 583 routes, we’re connecting 86 airports, a lot of which have been beforehand underserved or unserved. Greater than 1.4 crore passengers have benefited from UDAN flights, with over 2.80 lakh flights operated underneath the scheme and a viability hole funding assist of greater than 3,700 crores.”
The minister additionally outlined a number of different key initiatives and developments in India’s aviation sector. India is actively pursuing the event and manufacturing of its personal regional plane. “We need to produce our personal plane. We’re studying from the very best and need to have our presence within the regional plane market,” Naidu said.
Trying past nationwide borders, minister Naidu outlined a imaginative and prescient for larger interconnectivity between Asia Pacific nations. “It’s time that we glance past the worldwide borders and put together a roadmap for larger interconnectivity between the Asia Pacific nations,” he said.
The minister proposed a hub and spoke mannequin to attach extra airports within the area, with main airports serving as hubs and smaller regional airports as spokes. This method goals to create a seamless community that reduces journey occasions and optimises assets. Naidu highlighted the area’s potential, noting that it’s anticipated to turn into the world’s largest aviation market by 2035, with 3.5 billion passengers yearly. He known as for collaboration to deal with widespread challenges equivalent to market imbalances, infrastructure gaps, and regulatory hurdles.
Talking concerning the Electrical Vertical Takeoff and Touchdown (eVTOL), the rules for which have been launched by DGCA not too long ago, the minister underlined that the event positions India on the forefront of rising aviation applied sciences. Naidu emphasised the potential of eVTOL automobiles to revolutionise city air mobility, significantly in congested metropolitan areas like Delhi and Mumbai. “If not for longer regional routes, a minimum of throughout the metropolis, I believe these can present us with a really robust aviation mobility, air mobility community,” he defined.
Vumlunmang Vualnam, secretary, union ministry of civil aviation, additional elaborated on India’s aviation development trajectory. Vualnam highlighted the sector’s strong development, citing a ten% annual enhance over 20 years, rising to 11% excluding the Covid years. The Secretary emphasised the federal government’s proactive steps, together with doubling the variety of airports and implementing schemes like UDAN.
Alexis VIDAL, chief industrial officer, ATR Regional Plane, supplied insights into the success of regional connectivity in India. VIDAL highlighted ATR’s important contribution to metropolis pairing, an important side of regional air mobility. “Prior to now 5 years, our plane have contributed to creating greater than 200 new metropolis pairs throughout India,” VIDAL said. He emphasised that this quantity surpasses the routes opened by all different jet plane mixed. ATR’s success in India is attributed to its plane’s potential to function on skinny routes with reasonable demand and unrivalled economics. VIDAL additionally revealed future potential, citing analysis figuring out alternatives for an extra 300 new metropolis pairs, doubtlessly including 80 million annual passengers in regional air transportation.
Remi Maillard, chairman – FICCI Civil Aviation Committee and president & MD, Airbus – South Asia & India, emphasised the significance of regional air mobility for India’s aviation development. He highlighted India’s superb market situations for regional connectivity, citing its geography, demographics, and financial development. He famous UDAN’s success in connecting underserved airports and fostering new enterprise fashions, whereas acknowledging challenges equivalent to infrastructure limitations and the necessity for continued authorities assist to make sure viability.







Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *