Air passengers may look for top class facilities, infrastructure

New Delhi: Air passengers may look for top class infrastructure and facilities as the Government is going for a major push to the aviation sector planning to spend Rs 25000 crore in next 4-5 years.

This money will be spent on expansion and modification of existing terminals, new terminals, expansion or strengthening of existing runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services (ANS), control towers, technical blocks etc. to meet the expected growth in aviation sector.

Moreoevr, ‘in-principle’ approval has been accorded for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country. So far, six Greenfield airports namely, Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh and Kalaburagi in Karnataka have been operationalized, Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviationin General (Retd.) Dr.V.K. Singh told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

There is promotion of private investments in existing and new airports through the PPP route.
Under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN), as on 27 July, 2021, 359 routes have commenced connecting 59 unserved/underserved airports, including 2 water aerodromes and 5 heliports.

Route rationalization in the Indian airspace in coordination with Indian Air Force for efficient airspace management, shorter routes and lower fuel consumption has been done.

Through Air Bubble Arrangements, efforts have been made to ensure fair and equitable treatment to Indian carriers in the international sector.and the Government has supported airlines through various policy measures to improve their global competitiveness such as rationalisation of taxes, creation of a conducive aircraft leasing and financing environment, effective use of bilateral traffic rights and improvement in air navigation facilities etc.

Government has encouraged the airlines to buy modern wide body aircraft. So far Vistara Airlines has acquired two new wide body aircraft.

–INDIA NEWS STREAM