'India to become third largest airline market'

The draft civil aviation policy, which is due to be released next month, will be geared to catapult India into becoming the third largest civil aviation market in the world, from its current place as the tenth largest.

Addressing delegates at the curtain-raiser of the Fifth International Exhibition and Conference on Civil Aviation — India Aviation 2016 — in Bengaluru on Tuesday, Civil Aviation Secretary, Government of India, R N Choubey said, “We are embarking on an interesting journey with the new policy, which will catapult India to become the third largest market the world over.”

The Indian skies saw 19 per cent growth in passengers from January to August this year, thanks to reasons such as dip in crude oil prices, among others. This was at a time when the global market itself was contending with problems of its own.

But it must be noted that India’s airline potential is quite underutilised with regard to the number of citizens who are capable of flying or possess the ability to afford flights.

“While the number of middle-class people in India is over 300 million, the domestic ticketing figures show only 70 million people annually,” Choubey said.

India Aviation 2016 is themed, ‘India’s Civil Aviation Sector: Potential as Global Manufacturing and MRO Hub.’ The event will be held during March 16-20, 2016, at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad, and will have an exhibition, conferences, and aircraft display, among others.