Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, Jyotiraditya Scindia is confident that the BJP-led government will come back to power in 2024 with a clear majority. He says democratisation of the civil aviation sector in India began after 2014 which saw additions in the number of airports, an increased aircraft fleet and a surge in passenger traffic.
In conversation with Yeshi Seli, he said within a span of a year the Delhi International Airport would be the second largest in the world in terms of throughput (the number of aircraft using the runway system per unit time), the first being Atlanta in the US.
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Elections are around the corner. What kind of an outcome do you expect?
We will be back in power; there is no doubt about that. Let me add that we will not just win but win with a clear majority.
How has the civil aviation sector fared in the past few years?
There has been a democratisation of the civil aviation sector under Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a result of which there has been tremendous growth. Let me tell you how. This sector had an aircraft fleet size of roughly 400 aircraft until 2014. Thereafter it witnessed a 74% growth and the fleet size is slated to be in the range of 1,200 to 1,500 aircraft by 2030.
In the first 66 years after India’s Independence, 74 airports were built. Post-2015, we can boast of an additional 75 airports, heliports, and water dromes in a span of 9 years. Around 90% of the 149 airports are operational. The number of airports will increase to 200 by 2030.
Has this growth been commensurate with the increase in passenger traffic?
Absolutely yes. If you were to look at the number of passengers who travelled by air, the number was close to 6 crore in the domestic sector until 2014. This has now jumped to 14.5 core and it will increase to 42 crore by 2030. That means that there was a 1.5 X jump in passenger traffic in the past nine years and in the next 10 years, it will witness a 3X jump. There has been a focus on passenger growth under the UDAN (Udega Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, launched by the Prime Minister as an important arm of the civil aviation policy. The objective was to facilitate the common man to fly.
How has the UDAN scheme helped passengers?
The UDAN scheme saw redundant airports revived. This included airports like Jharsuguda in Odisha, Rupsi in Assam, Kishanganj in Rajasthan and Dharbhanga in Bihar. These airports now see passenger traffic of anywhere between 100,000 to five lakh annually. The emphasis is no longer only the Tier 1 cities, but also on Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. There were roughly 2,50,000 flights under this scheme that facilitated 1.28 crore to fly under the VGF (Viability Gap Funding) scheme. This shows that the democratisation of the civil aviation sector has happened in the true sense.
Metropolitan cities too have seen a growth in passenger and air traffic. Can you elaborate?
The demand in the metros is tremendous and is exploding. In the six metros, we have a total of 220 million throughput capability on an annual basis. We are expanding across all the metros and in some places building a second airport like Jewar in NCR and Navi Mumbai. This will increase the capacity to 460 million throughput by 2030. The throughput capacity in Delhi is 70 million at present and this will increase to 109 million by February-March 2024. This will make Delhi the second largest airport in the world in terms of throughput, second only to Atlanta on a global scale. This is the scale that India is attaining at present and at present, we are completely maxed out.
How is the fleet size being augmented in India?
You may be aware that Air India has given an order for 470 new aircraft out of which 250 are from Airbus and 220 from Boeing. Out of this fleet, 400 aircraft would be narrow-bodied and 70 wide-bodied. Besides, IndiGo has ordered 500 aircraft from Airbus. So India will have 970 new aircraft with just two airlines by 2030-35. Besides, the UDAN scheme (which in the last two decades saw shutdowns and bankruptcy) has led to the emergence of four regional airlines – FLY Big, FLY 91, Star Air and India One Air. The fleet includes small aircraft which include 90 seaters, 9 seaters, 16 seaters, ATRs. This has enhanced regional connectivity to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
What is the future of private carriers in India, considering that some have run into rough weather?
One airline that has grown is Akasa and I must compliment the team which has grown from one aircraft to 20 in a span of 12 months and has already acquired a 5% market share. They are not just expanding their fleet but have got clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to fly in international sectors too. Among the airlines that have had issues, Jet Airways is trying to sort out its issues with NCLT, GoFirst had contractual issues with Pratt and Whitney while SpiceJet has issues with creditors and with their engine. We are here to assist them in whatever way we can. We have an Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) which many airlines have utilised.
Are you looking at enhancing connectivity to other international sectors?
There are many countries that are seeking additional connections to India. We already have Air Services Agreements (ASA) with 116 countries and we have an Open Skies Policy (OSP) with 25 countries. OSP is done with countries beyond 5,000 km from India. Last year we did OSP with Canada and the Maldives and this year with New Zealand. These things keep evolving. We are also optimistic about setting up an international aviation hub in Delhi. With Air India and IndiGo having a huge network of operations and enhanced airport infrastructure at airports, this will soon become a reality.