HYDERABAD: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said that the government will be a constructive collaborator with all stakeholders of the aviation sector and work with them for its development.Formally inaugurating Wings India 2022 at Begumpet Airport along with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Scindia said that the Indian aviation sector had passed through a lot of trials and tribulations during the pandemic, but it was now emerging stronger, fitter and ready to face challenges and tap the opportunities.
He said the sector has shown resilience, and by next year, it will surpass the pre-Covid number of domestic passengers. International flights are going to fully resume in a couple of days, and the number of international travellers from India will also go up rapidly, he said.Dwelling on the metamorphosis Indian civil aviation has gone through in the last seven years, Scindia said that India was the fastest growing civil aviation market in the world and there has been expansion across the spectrum in the sector, with the number of airports in the country going up from 74 in 2013-14 to almost 140. He said that number is likely to go up to 220 by 2024-25.
There were 400 aircraft then and the number has gone up to 710 in seven years. It is intended that more than 100 aircraft should join every year and regional connectivity is the focus of the government. He said that more training centres are being added so that Indian pilots get trained within the country. Fifteen per cent of the Indian pilots are women, which is three times the global average. He also launched the Small Aircraft Sub-Scheme with an objective is to facilitate regional air connectivity by creating a growth-oriented framework with a specific focus on operations through small aircraft, including seaplanes.