'Domestic pax to surge to 300 million by 2030': Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia at Wings India
HYDERABAD: Wings India 2024, Asia’s largest civil aviation event, was off to a flying start at the Begumpet Airport here on Thursday.
With over 25 aircraft on display, Wings India 2024 was a sight to behold. At the display area, there were helicopters and aircraft lined up from different parts of the world for people to watch up close.
Special air shows by Sarang and Mark Jefferies teams were the highlight of the event.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the number of domestic air passengers in India was expected to surge to 300 million annually by 2030, more than double the 153 million in 2023. “Despite this, the country would still have a vast untapped market,” he said.
“Today our penetration is roughly about 3 to 4%. It will grow to about 10 to 15%. We still will have about 85% of the market untapped,” Scindia said.
According to the Union minister, the number of airports and wardrobes in the country will go up to 200 from 149 at present.
“India stands today as the third largest domestic civil aviation market in the world and the seventh largest international civil aviation market in the world. If the domestic and international markets are combined, India is the fifth largest civil aviation market in the world,” Scindia said. Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, steps have been taken to create capacities, remove bottlenecks, simplify processes and procedures and ensure that by 2047, the country’s aviation sector can support a US$20 Trillion economy, he said.
Scindia noted that the fleet size in the country has grown from 400 to over 700. Stating that India has become the largest purchaser of aircraft in the world after the US and China, he said, “Our fleet size is going to grow from 713 to upwards of 2,000 in the next decade.”
Observing that 74 airports were built in 65 years, he said that in the past 10 years, the government has modernised and built an additional 75 airports, waterdromes and heliports.
The Union minister launched the Udan 5.3 scheme on the occasion. He informed that the infrastructure of 76 airports, waterdromes and heliports was improved under the scheme while 517 new routes have been operationalised.
The Civil Aviation minister officially inaugurated the Airbus A350 aircraft, making Air India the first private carrier in the country to acquire this wide-body aircraft from Airbus in its fleet.
Scindia virtually launched GMR School of Aviation set up in collaboration with Airbus on the occasion. The school is poised to become a beacon of excellence in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, GMR said in a release.
Speaking at the BJP state office, Scindia said that Modi has made air travel accessible for common people with the Udan scheme. Modi’s dream is to see a person wearing “hawai chappal” travelling on a plane, he added.
‘Tarmac row unacceptable’
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Wings India 2024, Scindia said incidents like passengers having food on the tarmac at the Mumbai airport were “unacceptable” and that penalties were imposed.