Aviation Industry Growth in India

India is one of the fastest developing countries in the world. Aviation in India is broadly divided into two segments-Military and Civil aviation. The civil aviation industry in India has also accelerated during the last 10 years. Currently, India is the third largest domestic aviation market in the world and is even more expected to be the world largest domestic aviation market in the next 10 to 15 years.

In India, the first commercial civil aviation flight took place on 18th February 1911. The flight took off from Allahabad for Naini covering a total distance of nearly 10 kilometres. In the year 1932, JRD Tata started an airline. It started with the flying of a consignment of mail from Karachi to Juhu airport and this later came to be known as the Air India. Since then, the civil aviation industry growth in India has been booming.

The improvisation of various factors such as the introduction of low-cost carriers, modern airports, FDI in domestic airlines, the intervention of advanced information technologies and the ever-growing emphasis on regional connectivity has contributed towards a dynamic expansion of the civil aviation industry of India. According to a report, India has a large existing fleet of aircraft standing roughly at about 548 aircraft.

Owing to the quick rise of the demands in the civil aviation, it is expected that another 925 aircraft will be added in the next 5 years. The aviation market has continued to maintain its double-digit growth and hence it is evident that the aviation industry in India is not just growing but rapidly growing at a very high scale.

These positive impact of growth in the aviation industry is not entirely because of the huge investment it receives but also clearly because of the various major initiatives were undertaken by the government. India, being a country with vast geographical extent, The need for connectivity has always been a top target for all the government.

In the quest for overall regional connectivity, the government has awarded 325 routes to existing airlines as well as helicopter operators to enhance the flight services even to the hilly and the most remote areas. A huge amount of funds have been sanctioned for various airport building and modernization projects. All these have been done to accelerate the growth even to a higher level. The introduction of the UDAN scheme by the government aims at making domestic connectivity especially the regional connectivity affordable and widespread.

Summary: it is un-denying fact that aviation in India is gaining good growth and there are even more opportunities to take it higher. The only requirement remains good policies and relentless focus on quality, cost and passenger interest.