Scindia urges domestic airlines to help create international hub in India; calls for more wide-body planes

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday urged domestic airlines to help establish international aviation hubs in India, stressing the need for more wide-body aircraft to provide passengers with point-to-point international services.

In India, one of the fastest-growing commercial aviation markets in the world, Tata Group-owned Air India recently placed a historic order for 470 aircraft, including wide-body jets.

With the government working to boost the country’s high growth potential in the civil aviation market, the minister said now is the time to establish a civil aviation hub in India.

“The margins are thin, the revenues are thin, but airlines are happy to compete domestically because the volatility is low. The moment you go international, the revenue is high … but the volatility is much higher.

“I implore the airlines to take risks and face the volatility because the flag of India must be flown in international airspace,” Scindia said.

Speaking at the annual meeting of industry body CII in the national capital, the minister also highlighted the need for domestic airlines to have more wide-body aircraft in their fleets to create an international civil aviation hub in the country.

“For that, we need wide-body aircraft, we need to be able to fly point-to-point, not a circuitous route that all passengers have to follow … I urge his competitors to do the same because there is so much competition happening domestically,” he said .

Scindia is responding to certain recommendations from Bhaskar Bhat, co-chairman of the CII National Civil Aviation Commission and chairman of Tata Singapore Airlines, which operates flights under the Vistara brand.

”It is as important to us to expand our international footprint as it is to expand our domestic footprint. It is important that the Indian flag is also planted internationally through our airlines. “If we have to do that, then we have to get more wide-body aircraft, because we’re talking more than six to seven hours of flight range,” Scindia said.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has partnered with Delhi Airport as well as IndiGo and Air India to make the airport an international civil aviation hub.

Currently, most passengers from India take connecting flights to various international destinations as Air India does not have many wide-body aircraft to provide non-stop services on long-haul routes.

Speaking at the conference, Vistara chairman Bhaskar Bhat said the tax revenue collected by the government every year exceeds the losses incurred by airlines.

“We do have a structural problem, I wouldn’t even talk about it in this forum,” he said.

Bhat said that while the civil aviation industry in the country will see exceptional growth, there are actually a lot of support services that are lagging and ultimately unable to serve the market. “We are civil aviation and as a country we know that small countries with no domestic market at all have put aviation together with tourism and hospitality, combining the whole thing as a huge contribution to the economy as well as jobs.

“I’m not looking for a combination of the three divisions, but consider that in the long run it will be a good service to customers who expect to grow every day,” he noted.

During his meeting, Scindia also said that the country has done a lot in MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) of civil aviation. “The tax structure has been changed, the incentives have been done and we are starting to see results. Safran will invest $150 million… I would urge Boeing to look at setting up MRO in India as soon as possible. It has been many years of waiting and many conversations Part of that. It’s important to take that step forward,” he noted.

(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and was automatically generated from a syndicate feed.)