Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday said that the country’s civil aviation sector is witnessing a very strong V-shaped recovery with encouraging growth in the number of domestic passengers and this growth will continue in the coming years.
After being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the sector is on the recovery path and daily domestic air passengers have been above 4 lakh for the last few weeks.
Against the backdrop of congestion at airports, which has now decongested, the Civil Aviation Minister also said that efforts have been made to ensure that airport operators take such steps which can reduce congestion at airports.
In an interview with PTI, Mr Scindia said that the number of domestic passengers is very encouraging and till November this year the number is about 111 million.
“I believe the civil aviation sector has rebounded and what we call a V-shaped recovery in economic parlance. A very strong V-shaped recovery. Given the greater participation and greater willingness to travel by air We are seeing these very high numbers. I am sure this growth will continue in India in the years to come,” he said.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the number of domestic air passengers on Tuesday stood at 4,15,426, while the number of domestic flights stood at 2,883.
“While there is a great amount of happiness on the number of passengers crossing 4.15 lakh consecutively in the last two weeks and crossing the pre-Covid 2019 number on 24th December at 4.35 lakh, I would overemphasize the fact that if you look at the year-round numbers But, in 2019, we were close to around 144 million passengers (domestic).
“On a proportional basis as of November, we were looking at about 95 million … Today, at the end of November, we’re already at 111 million, so we’re up 15% on a consistent basis from that number to November,” he said. spoke.
“We need to wait and see the coronavirus situation”
On the current situation of corona virus across the world and its shadow on the civil aviation sector, Shri Scindia said that Covid is always a matter of concern.
“The fact that there are very high numbers of Covid cases around the world today, from China to South Korea, Japan and European countries, is definitely a cause for concern.
“We have to be careful, which is why we have requested the health ministry and mandated us to screen 2% of all passengers arriving in India. Fortunately, we are not going to have that high positivity number, at least not currently I think we still need to wait and watch the situation.
“Domestic air passenger growth to continue”
On congestion at airports including Delhi, the Civil Aviation Minister said that such a large number of passengers were not expected during the festive season.
“We have put our boots on the ground and we have understood the situation… It is the responsibility and job of the airport to provide seamless travel capacity between demand and supply,” he said. Important
The aim is to be able to handle peak hour traffic based on the throughput capacity of the airport as well as increase the throughput capacity within the airport, he added.
After receiving complaints of long queues and waiting hours due to overcrowding at airports, especially in Delhi, the ministry took several steps to bring back normalcy.
“Today, I am happy to note that we have focused on reducing the number of arrivals and takeoffs during peak hours as well as increasing the throughput capacity of Delhi airport. (It) increasing the number of gates for access Along with systems like TV monitors to help people and increase the number of security lines from 11+2 and today we have about 20 lines, the Minister said.
Mr Scindia said that these steps have actually reduced the number of bottlenecks there. “It is imperative to have those procedures in place at Mumbai airport and Bengaluru airport (also).” Asked whether airport operators were not well prepared to deal with the high passenger numbers, Mr Scindia said, “I don’t think there was any forecasting capability and anticipation of the high numbers that you and I are talking about.” have been”.
This is not necessarily a time to consider blame, but a time to actually tackle the problem and make the travel process and experience that much more comfortable for our passengers. “That’s where I am concentrating,” the minister said.
Talking about the international air traffic, Mr. Scindia said that it is about 20-25% less than the 2019 numbers.
“I see a sequential increase in this as we go along. For both domestic and international, we have looked at the system and we have ensured that airport operators take steps that allow airports to reduce congestion ” Scindia said.
The number of international passengers arriving on Tuesday stood at 82,293.