Tag Archives: Suresh Prabhu

In a recent Tweet, Suresh Prabhu, former union minister for railways and civil aviation, said that in his meeting with Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, special Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, “We discussed about how we can involve Ministry of AYUSH in the #G20 to promote Indian traditional medicines.”

Suresh Prabhu, Member of Parliament, and former Union Minister of Civil Aviation has said that small businesses like that of tour operators and travel agents have to be helped, as they fuel the entire tourism sector. “We must find out how to help small businesses, because they are the lifelines of the overall ecosystem of the tourism sector. If there are no tourists, there will not be any airlines which do business of billions of dollars. However, those tourists will be brought to the airline because of the tour operators and travel agents—all those players actually make that ecosystem work and therefore we must realise that small businesses in this sector are crucial for sustaining larger businesses and even economy,” he said, while speaking at the PHD Chambers and WTTC Webinar, ‘Tourism, Hospitality & Transport Challenges’ by Bird Group.

Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister, Civil Aviation, along with Jayant Sinha, Minister of State, Civil Aviation, have released the passenger charter. If a domestic flight is expected to be delayed by more than six hours, the airline would offer an option of ‘alternate flight’ to the passenger within that time, or it will refund the full price of the ticket. The charter also stated that if the passenger is informed of a flight cancellation less than two weeks prior to departure, the airline has to give an alternate flight to passenger or refund the ticket completely. In fact, at the time of booking, the airline has to clearly indicate the amount of refund money that will be given to passenger in case of cancellation. In case a passenger is denied boarding due to over booking of a flight, the passenger shall not hold the airline liable for compensation in case he was given an alternate flight within one hour of original flight’s departure. The charter also states that passengers can cancel tickets without having to pay any amount within a day of the booking and also claim enhanced compensation for loss of baggage from airlines. However, the new charter states that zero cancellation charge won’t apply if the tickets are booked less than seven days before the scheduled departure time of the flight.      

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, in association with Airports Authority of India and Confederation of Indian Industry, has organised ‘Aviation Conclave 2019’ with an overarching theme of ‘Flying for All’ in Delhi. The conclave deliberated upon taking the government’s agenda to bring new aviation business to India, in particular, drones systems, manufacturing of aircraft in India, financing and leasing of aircraft from India by Indian and foreign airlines, transforming Indian airports into next-gen aviation hubs, and unleashing the air cargo potential by integrating every village of India in global value chains. Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, stated that realising the government’s vision of making ‘Flying for All’ a reality underpins the government’s commitment to bring about a veritable revolution in the Indian aviation sector. “This conclave is about the future of Indian aviation – it bringing together industry leaders, government and regulators for setting the tone and propelling us to realise our Vision 2040”, he stated. Over 30 industry leaders deliberated across five key sessions covering the Drone-Ecosystem Policy Roadmap, Roadmap for Manufacturing Aircraft and associated equipment, including Regional Transport Aircraft in India, Project Rupee Raftaar- Aircraft Financing and Leasing from India, National Air Cargo Policy, and Mission to transform Indian Airports into Next-Gen Aviation Hubs. The deliberations threw up key catalysts to fast track the holistic growth of the passenger, cargo and MRO sectors. Commenting on the objectives of the conclave, Jayant Sinha, Minister of State of Civil Aviation said, “With more than a hundred commercially-connected airports, aviation is now central to the lives of Indians. We are committed to growing the industry by encouraging and opening new segments. I am confident that this conclave with its …

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) awarded 235 routes to different airlines, out of which 46 are tourism routes, and 189 are under Regional Connectivity Scheme. Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister, Civil Aviation, said, revealed, “We are working with Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Commerce, as we have sanctioned a programme of 12 champion sectors of service development, under which Rs 5000 crores were allowed as sanctions. Part of that money is being given to MOT, which in turn is giving that money to aviation ministry for these routes.” Rajeev Nayan Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation, shared that for the first time MOT came on board for the UDAN scheme. “MOT asked us to conduct tourism route-wise bidding, for which they will be providing funds. The difference between MOT route and the conventional RCS UDAN route is that MOT wants tourist places should be connected among themselves. It may happen that the airport which they are wanting may have enough flights but between two tourist destinations, there may not be a flight. So the MOT’s intention was that we should conduct the bidding, not for individual airports, but for routes which are specified by them. MOT has in turn got it collated by interacting with the tourism professionals, both in the private sector as well as the government sector, including state governments and other stakeholders before giving it to us,” he said.

“Maharashtra is an industrial state and the way aviation sector is witnessing growth, there is a demand for more infrastructure and more airport spaces,” said Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra, at the first Global Aviation Summit in Mumbai. As one of the key speakers of the inaugural session, Fadnavis focused on how aviation contributed to 15 per cent of the national GDP. Welcoming all the dignitaries and ministers to the financial and entertainment capital of India, the chief minister highlighted the importance of growth in the aviation sector and said that Mumbai is proud to be one of the most efficiently managed airports in India. Fadnavis thanked Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Civil Aviation and Commerce and Industry for choosing Mumbai as the venue for the summit. Mentioning the construction of the Navi Mumbai airport, which is touted to be operational by 2020, the minister said that the airport will offer a unique experience to travellers. The airport has capacity to add 1 per cent to our GDP and apart from it, there are 9 airports in the pipeline in the state. While Pune airport is being developed to cater to one of the major IT hubs in the country, Nagpur airport is being developed for its strategic location in national and international flight routes. All metros in India are around an hour’s distance from Nagpur via flight and this connectivity has called for more attention to its infrastructure development, the chief minister added. The connectivity between South East Asia and Europe also passes through Nagpur and hence facilities at the airport are one of the best that have been created. A passenger and cargo hub will also be created in …

The first edition of Global Aviation Summit 2019 witnessed participation from more than 80 countries. Being organised from January 15-16, 2019 at Grand Hyatt Mumbai, the summit themed on ‘Flying for All’ is touted to be the first-of-its-kind that will cover a diverse range of topics – from domestic aviation market, drone policies, infrastructure investment, freight and cargo policies, aviation financing and much more. It has attendance from more than 100 global CEOs, 35 exhibitors and more than 1200 delegate participation. The inaugural session saw keynote speeches by Sandip Somany, President, FICCI; R N Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, President of the Council, International Civil Aviation Organization; Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Civil Aviation and Commerce & Industry; Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra; and Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation.

Airport Authority of India (AAI)’s 94 airports incurred losses in the financial year 2017-18, informed Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha recently. “The losses are mainly due to low revenue generation to meet the total expenditure of the respective airports,“ said Prabhu while citing the reason. AAI owns and manages 129 airports around the country. He further said that the authority has taken steps to enhance aeronautical revenue in the form of increase in tarrif at non-major airports and measures for commercial exploitation at some airports to increase the revenue and to reduce losses.

According to the recent safety audit of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) conducted by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), DGCA’s rating remains as Category 1, revealed Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, at a press conference in Delhi. Accompanying him were Jayant Sinha, Minister of State, Civil Aviation; RN Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation and BS Bhullar, Director General, Civil Aviation. In 2014, India was downgraded to Category 2 in a similar audit. However, after the FAA audit of DGCA in July 2018, the administration has appreciated the commitment of the Indian government in ensuring effective safety oversight on India’s aviation system.

EbixCash World Money airport forex counters has been inaugurated at the arrival and departure terminals at Kannur International Airport in the presence of Minister of Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu; Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan; Minister of Industries, Sports and Youth Affairs, EP Jayarajan; Minister of Ports, Kadakampally Surendran; Minister of Transport, AK Saseendran; Minister of Water Resources, K Krishnankutty; and KIAL MD, V Thulasidas among other senior central and state government officials, and industry leaders. EbixCash World Money will offer passengers flying in and out of the city, foreign exchange at competitive rates along with a host of other products such as travellers’ cheques, multi-currency prepaid cards and travel insurance. Commenting on the launch, T C Guruprasad, Managing Director, EbixCash WorldMoney said, “Kannur is a fast-growing business and tourism destination with Wayanad and Coorg being in close proximity. Besides being the district headquarters, it offers a mix of beaches, forts and museums. A large number of international flights also offer direct connectivity from Middle East destinations such as Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Muscat, Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait, making it a strategic location for us to offer our forex and travel services. We currently have six branches and nine airport forex counters in Kerala.” Spread about 2,000 acres, the Kannur Airport is the newest addition to India’s international airport portfolio. The airport is expected to serve more than one million passengers annually with passenger traffic estimated to increase five-fold by 2025.