India’s airports face increased passenger numbers and more cargo in the coming years, according to latest traffic growth projections.
Angela Gittens, world director general Airports Council International (ACI) recently met with senior Indian aviation officials in New Delhi to discuss the future of aviation in the country. With a population of over a billion people and a growing middle class now just beginning to discover air travel, India last year enjoyed traffic growth of 6.2 per cent compared to the previous year.
"India has potential, with a large population in a large country with a growing middle class," said Gittens. "However other countries with similar or lower population bases handle relatively larger volumes of passenger traffic."
India is not currently in the top 10 countries by airport passenger volume.
One of the key challenges for Indian aviation is the development of airport infrastructure. In this regard ACI discussed with government officials the need for India to have the right economic regulatory framework in place to encourage the development of this much needed infrastructure.
ACI discussed the upcoming privatisation of additional airports. Gittens stressed that the process needed to be transparent and that all stakeholders needed to understand what the features of the new ‘concession model’ will be. The current concessions have been successful in providing a steady source of subsidy to the smaller Indian airports and much-needed capital investments in larger airports. However, the current regulatory model has yielded poor returns for investors and could stifle development in India's airports in the long run.
"ACI offered its support to India's attempts to further develop its airport infrastructure and find the right regulatory framework to achieve the desired goals. Other countries have faced this dilemma and we will provide examples for the government to explore. Aviation is key for the social and economic development of cities, regions and nations, and connectivity to the global market is essential. India should be one of the three largest aviation markets in the world. ACI wants to see India take its rightful place in the aviation world."
Table on India's standing with regard to passenger traffic as compared to the top ten countries worldwide (source: The ACI World Annual Traffic Report 2013):
Rank Country Passengers (2013) 1 USA 1,452,514,887 2 China 819,462,272 3 Japan 253,728,946 4 United Kingdom 232,004,912 5 Brazil 203,345,640 6 Germany 203,000,683 7 Spain 187,075,528 8 France 155,496,702 9 Indonesia 151,699,337 10 Turkey 150,228,232 11 India 148,094,443
ACI ‘offers to help develop’ India’s aviation
Uncategorised
Thursday, 28 August 2014
India’s airports face increased passenger numbers and more cargo in the coming years, according to latest traffic growth projections.
Angela Gittens, world director general Airports Council International (ACI) recently met with senior Indian aviation officials in New Delhi to discuss the future of aviation in the country. With a population of over a billion people and a growing middle class now just beginning to discover air travel, India last year enjoyed traffic growth of 6.2 per cent compared to the previous year.
"India has potential, with a large population in a large country with a growing middle class," said Gittens. "However other countries with similar or lower population bases handle relatively larger volumes of passenger traffic."
India is not currently in the top 10 countries by airport passenger volume.
One of the key challenges for Indian aviation is the development of airport infrastructure. In this regard ACI discussed with government officials the need for India to have the right economic regulatory framework in place to encourage the development of this much needed infrastructure.
ACI discussed the upcoming privatisation of additional airports. Gittens stressed that the process needed to be transparent and that all stakeholders needed to understand what the features of the new ‘concession model’ will be. The current concessions have been successful in providing a steady source of subsidy to the smaller Indian airports and much-needed capital investments in larger airports. However, the current regulatory model has yielded poor returns for investors and could stifle development in India's airports in the long run.
"ACI offered its support to India's attempts to further develop its airport infrastructure and find the right regulatory framework to achieve the desired goals. Other countries have faced this dilemma and we will provide examples for the government to explore. Aviation is key for the social and economic development of cities, regions and nations, and connectivity to the global market is essential. India should be one of the three largest aviation markets in the world. ACI wants to see India take its rightful place in the aviation world."
Table on India's standing with regard to passenger traffic as compared to the top ten countries worldwide (source: The ACI World Annual Traffic Report 2013):
Rank Country Passengers (2013) 1 USA 1,452,514,887 2 China 819,462,272 3 Japan 253,728,946 4 United Kingdom 232,004,912 5 Brazil 203,345,640 6 Germany 203,000,683 7 Spain 187,075,528 8 France 155,496,702 9 Indonesia 151,699,337 10 Turkey 150,228,232 11 India 148,094,443
