India has ambitious plans for aviation sector

18 Oct 2011

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Mumbai: India's ministry for civil aviation has embarked upon a number of ambitious projects that will hopefully see a thorough overhaul of the aviation sector in the country. The projects include the establishment of a national aviation university, which will be tasked with the job of providing skilled human resources in the aviation sector, a civil aviation authority that will make the country's aviation regulator administratively and financially independent, an autonomous air accident investigation bureau, an ombudsman to handle passenger concerns, a task force for aviation security, and restructuring of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to better handle security concerns.

These projects are necessary to meet demands that will result from air passenger traffic touching 30 million by 2020.

"A committee of experts has been set up to make the project report for the national aviation university. The civil aviation ministry has approved the formation of an independent civil aviation authority and it is under examination by the law ministry," said civil aviation secretary, Dr Nasim Zaidi.

Zaidi was speaking at the end of day one of the week-long International Civil Aviation Negotiation Conference (ICAN 2011). Organized this year by the ministry of civil aviation, ICAN 2011 is held under the aegis of the Montreal-based UN body International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and provides a platform for aviation officials from different countries to conduct bilateral air services negotiations.

About 350 delegates from 68 countries are attending the event and Indian representatives will be holding negotiations on bilateral agreements with 35 countries.

Earlier in the day, Roberto Gonzalez, president, ICAO said that by 2030, the number of air passengers from the Asia-Pacific region will double from 2 to 5 billion, and that a large proportion of these will be using international services.

In her inaugural speech, India's president Pratibha Patil said that global comparison of air travel penetrations shows that India, with 0.04 air trips per capita per annum, stands far behind developed countries with more than two air trips per capita per annum.

She highlighted the importance of an economic regulator to create a level playing field, to promote competition, protect consumer interests and ensure better service levels.

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