India has the potential to become one of the top nations in the world in terms of domestic and international traffic. Its geographical location — between eastern and western hemisphere — puts the country in an enviable position. A 300-million strong middle class within the country can give the sector an inbuilt advantage. India is now placed in the 10th position in the world in terms of civil aviation rankings.

The civil aviation ministry is credited with the view that if every Indian in the middle income bracket takes just one flight per annum, it would result in the sale of 300 million tickets. It would be a very big jump from just 70 million domestic tickets sold during 2014-15. But this is possible only when fares are brought down.

Much will depend upon the support the sector gets from the stakeholders, especially the Centre and states. While the Centre needs to give additional budgetary support to sustain its PSU carrier Air India to expand operations to remote areas, the states have to ensure that a large number of airports/airfields/airstrips already existing under them get into functional mode.

For this, both the Centre and the states have to work in unison. The Airports Authority of India which controls major airports in the country under the central sector will have to bring down landing and other infrastructure charges for airlines operating in the domestic sector, specially in the undeveloped region like the North Eastern states and remote areas of the country. The states will have to follow suit as a large number of airports/airstrips fall under their jurisdiction.

The situation is favourable now for the aviation industry because of reduced fuel costs. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) accounts for a major chunk of expenditure incurred by the airline industry.

In the much awaited new civil aviation policy, the civil aviation ministry is pushing for an all-inclusive air fare of Rs 2500 (two thousand five hundred) per passenger, indexed to inflation, for a one-hour flight. It is felt this will go a long way in giving the much needed regional connectivity the government has been targeting for long but without much success.

It is worth noting that there are a total of 476 airstrips/airports across the country. Of them, just 75 have scheduled operations. In other words, most of the others are lying in disuse. They can be made functional by utilising them for regional flights. Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, among others, which are major employment centres in IT and other fields, can be connected with tier II towns which send bulk of the work force.

In the blueprint that the civil aviation ministry has put out to states, it will be a win-win situation for all. Airports development has the potential to create employment opportunities. In the initial stages, locals will get jobs. Once operational, the airports will create host of other employment opportunities in areas like tourism and marketing. Agri business will also get a boost once connectivity increases and movement of people gets a boost.

Not just the North East, even remote areas of big states like UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Orissa etc will stand to gain once their smaller towns get air connectivity, the civil aviation ministry has suggested.

States like Bihar and UP, in particular, have been waiting for greater regional connectivity in their Buddhist circuit routes like Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Gaya, among others. This has been talked about for decades by successive governments but nothing substantial has been done. Major Buddhist nations like Japan and China have in the past complained of lack of facilities like adequate number of airports and hotels in the region. But hardly anything substantial has been achieved. The usual blame game between the Centre and the states continue even today. Hopefully, the new civil aviation policy will take care of the situation.

North East is another problem area for easy access. Successive governments have only paid lip service, doing precious little. Hopefully, the new civil aviation policy will take serious note of it this time. The tall talk of integration of the North East with mainland India has remained a political rhetoric. Better and cheaper air connectivity is a necessity now more than ever before. Much of the once restricted North East is now open to foreign tourists. How can they commute unless easier and better air access is provided? (IPA Service)