GET SET GO
Still shackled by inadequate infrastructure, high costs and lack of a coherent regional aviation policy, Indian regional aviation is like a tiger waiting to be unleashed
INDIA IS URBANISING APACE
and by 2050, half its people are expected to be city dwellers. Apart from the sprawling metros, perhaps 200 population centres across the country are rapidly reinventing themselves as industrial and economic power houses. They urgently require airports and flights, as befits modern cities. There is growing demand for aviation services from places as far apart as Bokaro (Bihar), Bellary (Karnataka) and Dwarka (Gujarat). The entire North-east Region has been crying out for air connectivity for many years but sporadic efforts to provide regular services have proved inadequate.
Although India’s airports handled an impressive 162.3 million passengers during financial year 2011-12, the six metros alone accounted for almost 70 per cent of this traffic. Although six airlines are in operation, they display a marked preference for the ‘safe’ mainline routes and are reluctant to blaze new trails. And although a comprehensive policy on scheduled regional air transport services has been in place since August 2007, it has conspicuously failed to generate any great enthusiasm among the entrepreneurs. Can regional aviation ever thrive in such a difficult environment?
DEMOCRATIC DIVIDEND.
Air travel, long seen as a privilege of the elite, is well on the way to being democratised. Less than three per cent of Indians can afford to buy an air ticket but their numbers and aspirations are growing. So, given the necessary will and some well-considered measures, there is no reason why air services cannot prosper even in the remote regions of the country. And it need not take long either. In 2001, only six per cent of Malaysians had ever travelled by air. Today, that figure has crossed 70 per cent. A single bold airline, AirAsia, fully embracing the low-cost model, managed to transform the aviation scene in that country. India’s potential for growth is far greater, starting as it does from a lower base. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), people in India travel on an average just 0.1 times per year, compared with 1.8 times in the USA. India is already poised to become the world’s third largest