Tag Archives: Minister of Civil Aviation

In its endeavour to recognise the fast growth of the aviation sector, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), has announced the Global Aviation Summit, with an overarching theme of ‘Flying for all – especially for the next 6 billion’. Supported by ICAO, IATA, ACI and CANSO, the Summit will be held on January 15 and 16, 2019 at The Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. It aims to focus on the celebration of ‘Flying for All’ and to provide a platform to the aviation fraternity to highlight the challenges of the sector in the newly-developing growth spots. The Summit provides a platform to the stakeholders to brainstorm over the future of the aviation industry and identify the growth areas. Speaking at the announcement of the Global Aviation Summit, Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Civil Aviation and Commerce & Industry said, “The reason behind hosting the Global Aviation Summit here is because India is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world. This Summit will provide a platform to the global aviation fraternity to display the challenges of the sector in the newly-developing growth spots and understand how technology-driven innovation will shape the air travel industry in India.” More than 1,000 delegates, 80 plus speakers, 50 plus CEOs of airports and airlines, 30 plus exhibitors, transport ministers from 35 countries and 35 regulators (DGCAs/Civil aviation authorities from different countries) from the global aviation fraternity are going to participate.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the investments for expansion and upgradation of integrated terminals at Chennai, Guwahati and Lucknow airports by Airport Authority of India. Airports Authority of India has been assigned for the project with a total estimate of about Rs 5,000 crores to modernise, upgrade services, build new terminal buildings or upgrade the new terminals in Chennai, Lucknow and Guwahati. Jayant Sinha, Minister of Civil Aviation, made the announcement regarding the approval of the investment by Cabinet and assured that work for it would begin at the earliest.  

IndiGo has added another flight to its Tirupati network. Tirupati will be connected by three daily non-stop flights to Hyderabad and double daily non-stop flights to Bengaluru. Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju along with Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director, IndiGo flagged-off the second flight from Tirupati to Hyderabad at Tirupati International Airport. Apart from this, Tirupati will also be connected to many new cities on IndiGo’s existing network of Airbus 320s and ATRs. IndiGo will connect Tirupati to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Dubai, Singapore among other cities via Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mangalore.

The 2nd Aero Expo organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry got off to an excellent start at New Delhi. The four-day event will also feature India’s first Heli Expo on November 4 and 5. Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the mega event, which will deliberate on the key focus areas for Indian aviation to sustain and grow itself in the coming years. Also gracing the event was Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, and Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Government of India, among other industry stalwarts and key stakeholders. Speaking about the future prospect of the country’s aviation network, the Vice President of India exclaimed, “Apart from playing a key role in promoting connectivity between various regions and creating jobs, the civil aviation sector is one of the key drivers of the economy. As such, a continued introspection of the current policies, norms and infrastructure needs to be done to ensure the sectors contribution towards the economy.” Jayant Sinha also met with the leading CEOs and CMD of the industry to discuss the future of civil aviation. With 200 million passenger trips per year currently and growing at a rate of 12 per cent, the Indian industry is looking at one billion passenger trips from across the various airports around the country and the 2nd Aero expo highlighted the investment requirements for the same.

A new campus of Indian Aviation Academy was launched in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. P. Ashok Gajapati Raju, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, inaugrated the campus in the presence of R. N. Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation; Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI); Dr. Dewakar Goel, Director, Indian Aviation Academy (IAA) and Kumar Rajesh Chandra, DG, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The academy is a joint venture by BCAS, AAI and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Minister of State, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha and Secretary, Civil Aviation, Rajiv Nayan Choubey inaugurating the two-day Aero Expo India-2016 organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry under the patronage of Ministry of Civil Aviation here today. The Minister remarked that with new civil aviation policy in place and other associated reforms accompanying it, the civil aviation sector would emerge to serve the un-served at affordable pace. Raju reassured the Indian civil aviation industry, emphasising that the government of the day is exploring all possibilities for capacity expansion of leading airports in the country as well doing its best to make sure that the regional air connectivity is accomplished as per its UDAAN initiative. The Minister also stressed that though the domestic civil aviation industry has been growing at a rate of more than 20% in the last few years, admitting that higher passenger growth in civil aviation sector is still a challenge for the government which could be won with addition of capacities in India’s leading airports. Speaking on the occasion, Sinha asked civil aviation industry to grow in such a manner so that its passenger traffic, currently estimated at about 150 million for domestic and overseas sector multiplies manifold and catches on pace with the air traffic of China which presently is calculated at 500 million per annum. In order to achieve this objective, the ministry has been adopting three pronged strategy under its UDAAN commitment which includes expansion of airports capacities, ensure regional connectivity and equip the air passenger with better level of satisfaction and experience under its Air Sewa initiative, emphasized the minister adding …

The PHD Aviation Summit 2016 saw industry stalwarts stressing on regional and remote connectivity. Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, said that it is important for connecting regional and remote destinations via air not only to make it easier for foreign tourists but also to promote domestic tourism. The event was inaugurated in the presence of Gajapathi Raju; K. Narayana Rao, Chairman, Civil Aviation Committee; Gopal Jiwarajka, Senior Vice President, PHD Chamber; Dr. Burak Akcapar, Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey; and Anil Khaitan, VP, PHD Chamber. In a special session titled, Regional & Remote Connectivity: Key Drivers & Initiatives’, Sunil Kumar, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said that India has more than 400 airstrips and only 127 operational airports. He further added that in order to boost remote connectivity, it is important to develop these airports and get more flights at such destinations. The summit also had panel discussions on ‘Cargo Sector- Vital Role in Economic Growth’, while the valedictory session was on National Civil Aviation Policy – NCAP2015- Impact on Industry & Tourism’.