India’s civil aviation sector eyes new heights | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: India’s civil aviation sector is finally shrugging off the after-effects of the Covid-19 third wave and is already flying 3. 83 lakh domestic passengers per day as compared to the traffic of 4. 10 lakh passengers daily in pre-Covid times, Union minister of civil aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday.
Scindia added the country’s civil aviation sector has registered a ‘V’ shaped recovery in terms of growth in the number of passengers it carries per day and the industry is expected to surpass the pre-Covid levels by 2023.
Underlining the importance of infrastructure creation, the minister said that unlike earlier times when airports used to come up in existing economic hubs of the country, currently, airports coming up are transforming places into economic hubs due to their multiplier effect.

“Every dollar invested in the civil aviation sector yields an economic output of $3. 1… There is also an employment multiplier…Every direct job created in civil aviation creates 6. 1 indirect jobs,” he said, while addressing participants at the inaugural session of the Wings India 2022 here in Hyderabad.
Stating that the civil aviation sector has registered impressive growth over the last decade, he said that a country that had a fleet of only 400 aircraft in 2013-14 has grown to 710 aircraft in the last seven years.
“We intend to add at least 110 to 120 aircraft per year as we go forward,” Scindia said, adding that airlines must work towards expanding their fleet of wide bodied aircraft to tap global markets.
On boosting regional connectivity and enabling last mile connectivity, the minister said that today’s civil aviation sector should become the railways of tomorrow.
As part of the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, 409 new routes have been connected via air enabling over 91 lakh new passengers to travel by air.
Meanwhile, Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said the civil aviation industry and government must encourage more women to take up careers in this growing sector.
Scindia said around 15% of pilots in the country are women, which is the among the highest globally, and that there is a scope to increase their numbers. The minister also said the government will be working with industry stakeholders to boost drone and helicopter segments that hold immense growth potential.