India Aviation takes off, govt reaches out to industry

Focus on developing the country as MRO hub, govt emphasises focus on plans for regional connectivity

The fifth edition of India Aviation 2016 kicked off in Hyderabad on Wednesday with a focus on developing the country as a manufacturing and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) hub, bringing to together airline promoters, chief executives and bureaucrats.

On the occasion, along with Make in India, the government also emphasised its focus on plans for regional connectivity, which received a boost in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget 2016-17.

The event also attracted three biggest airlines from the Gulf - Emirates from Dubai, United Arab Emirates' Etihad Airways and Doha's Qatar Airways, as these companies marked a presence for the first time in the biennial show.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the first day of the five-day event saw participation from 25 countries, with ministerial-level participation from four countries. "The country's aviation sector has grown by about 35 per cent from the time the show was conducted in 2014, with an unparalleled 20 per cent growth in domestic traffic," said Raju.

President Pranab Mukherjee, however, struck a cautious note. "Despite rapid growth, several cities in India still remain unconnected or inadequately connected with the national grid," he said. Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said it is this challenge the policy is going to address. "We are proposing to waive parking charges, excise duty and VAT for airlines willing to operate to those places," he said. Choubey said the target was to increase annual ticket booking from 70 million to 300 million.

The Indian aviation sector is witnessing its most buoyant period on the back of low fuel prices and passenger growth. According to estimates by International Air Transport Association, India's domestic air travel soared 22.9 per cent in January, compared to a year ago. Growth is being propelled by the comparatively strong domestic economy and increases in air services.

The Indian market overtook both Australia and Japan during 2015 and is currently level with Russia at around 1.2 per cent of global passenger traffic.

Emirates specially flew in its jumbo Airbus A380 for the show and Qatar Airways is displaying an Airbus A350, the latest in its fleet.

With India clocking the highest growth rate in the aviation sector for almost a year now, the country has become important for the airlines.