India resists calls for more air access in drive to be global aviation force

New Delhi, March 22 (BNA): India has dashed hopes of foreign airlines for more access to its airports, as its aviation minister urged domestic carriers to fly long-haul and help establish new hubs as it seeks to regain control of Indian travel. from foreign competitors.

It is also asking airlines to increase domestic production and will soon finalize rules to protect the rights of lessors to repossess aircraft, in a bid to level up with key global aviation markets, Jyotiraditya Scindia told Reuters.

“India is now at this inflection point,” Scindia said during an interview in his office in New Delhi.

“We will see an explosion of air traffic in India in the coming years,” he said, adding that he wanted domestic carriers to look at international expansion with greater focus.

The South Asian country is one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets with demand for air travel outpacing the supply of aircraft, but the bulk of international traffic is taken up by global airlines with efficient hubs.

Now, India wants to harness these economic gains for itself by boosting the growth of airlines and airports.

Last month, Air India placed a record order for 470 aircraft and is making a strong push into the international market. Reuters reported earlier this month that local rival Indigo is also in talks about a new order of more than 500 aircraft, even as it awaits delivery of the same number from an old order.

India was not looking to increase air traffic shares with Gulf countries, Scindia said, and instead wanted Indian airlines to offer long-haul nonstop flights on larger aircraft. He said the order for Air India’s wide-body aircraft and IndiGo’s double-aisle to some destinations were signs that the “transition” had begun.

India is also mobilizing to meet the transportation needs of its 1.3 billion people by building new airports in remote areas of the country and expanding capacity at major airports.

Scindia said domestic and international passenger traffic across six major metro airports is expected to more than double to 420 million over the next five years, and India’s fleet is set to grow to more than 2,000 aircraft from 700 today.

It is working with some airlines and Delhi Airport to create a hub-and-spoke model in the capital that will allow a seamless transition for passengers hopping from domestic flights to their international connections and vice versa.

“Today my hubs are either at the eastern borders of my country or at the western borders of my country. With the scope I have, I have to set up a hub within India,” said Scindia.

But even with hundreds of new planes on order, and India’s history of failed airlines such as Kingfisher and Jet Airways, Scindia said he wasn’t worried it would lead to any oversupply because the country’s economy, rapid urbanization and unpenetrated air travel market would fuel growth. . .

“Earlier, airports and planes only went to those cities that provided a great economic growth story to provide the rationale for that investment. Today, it is airports and airlines that determine economic growth,” said the 52-year-old minister.

“This whole paradigm has changed.”

FKN