NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2023-24 Union Budget announced that fifty new airports, helipads, aerodromes will be built to improve regional connectivity across the country.
This announcement came a day after the President, Droupadi Murmu, said in her first speech in Parliament that India is the third largest civil aviation market. She also said that number of airports has risen from 74 in 2014 to 147 at present.
The economic survey too had highlighted the potential that civil aviation holds.
"The civil aviation sector in India has great potential owing to growing demand from the middle class, growth in population and tourism, higher disposable incomes, favourable demographics, and greater penetration of aviation infrastructure," it noted.
The current financial year has further shown a rebound with both passenger and cargo movement close to the pre-COVID-19 levels. The total number of passengers carried in December 2022 stood at 150.1 lakh, which was 106.4 per cent of the pre-Covid level.