Connectivity and tourism are intricately related to each other. The better the connectivity, the better the tourism. Even the reverse is true. The more the tourism, the more the demand for connectivity. Further, seamless travelling and multi modal transportation are the needs of the hour, to position India as a world class tourism destination. Therefore, in order to have a sustained growth of tourism in the country, the decade long, high aviation growth trajectory achieved by India, must continue for the next decade as well.
India’s Aviation Sector today, has a number of Strengths, in the form of world class airports, low cost airlines, expanding fleet of aircrafts and emerging regional airports.
India has a large number of Opportunities too. The new aviation policy, regional connectivity scheme, liberalised e-visa regime and success stories of public-private partnership model in airport infrastructure, have been game changers. These would continue to pave way for high growth in future. With Asia-Pacific Region, projected to drive the biggest aviation growth in the next 20 years, India has the opportunity to become a Global Aviation Hub in this region.
The growing opportunities are however accompanied with challenges. The viability of airlines, the high aviation fuel and airport costs and the crowding of air space and airports at some of the key destinations, are some of the major challenges before the aviation sector in the country.
In order to meet these challenges, the issues of air infrastructure, capacity building and mid course corrections in tax structure and costs, must be addressed by Government, Aviation industry and all other Stakeholders, sooner than later.
The high growth of aviation sector in India must be accompanied with its sustainability.
Addressed the seminar on ‘Emerging Challenges in Aviation’ organised by Foundation for Aviation & Sustainable Tourism (FAST) at IIC, New Delhi.
