JOIN USCivil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh today expressed concern over shrinkage in air passenger traffic numbers in the last three months but hoped that the buoyancy in the sector would lead to a spike in the long-run.
"In the past three months, the traffic numbers have fallen. Following the global economic downturn, there were worries about a downturn in the Indian economy. There were estimations about a fall in GDP growth and there were issues relating to high costs. And airlines and the hospitality industry are the first to suffer from this," Singh told the Economic Editors conference here.
"We hope that in the long-run the traffic will increase. It is bound to increase," he said. Official figures have shown that in July-September, the air traffic has shrunk by 9-11 per cent month-over-month .
Singh said the Aircraft Acquisition Policy was also being amended.