After two years of slowdown, India's aviation industry is looking at clearer skies. Domestic air passenger traffic crossed the 4 lakh-mark on April 17 for the first time since the COVID outbreak, according to Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. He said that domestic traffic on Sunday touched 95 percent of pre-COVID levels.
In an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan, the aviation minister said that the UDAN scheme will now provide last mile connectivity to customers with the help of helicopters and small aircraft, which will roll out soon.
He added, "We are now in process of working on UDAN 4.2 where we will also bring in the earlier flights. Along with this, we are positioning ourselves for last mile connectivity by bringing in place a scheme for smaller aircrafts which include up to 19-20 seaters and helicopters. So there are many initiatives new and innovative initiatives that we are working on within the ministry."
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Speaking about new entrant Akasa Air, Scindia said, "After two decades where you and I have been witnessing every couple of years an airline shutdown, for the first time, after two decades, we have actually got a new sun rising on the horizon of civil aviation with two new airlines taking off this year in the form of Akasa Air and Jet and both are going to come in with substantial fleet sizes. I am looking at a fleet augmentation process over every year of close to about 100 planes a year and therefore, we should be on a growth path."
Scindia highlighted that the current air traffic demand is sustainable and more domestic and international flights are expected in a month.
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On demand visibility, he said, "I am quite confident that in the days to come, you are going to see sustainable air traffic demand as we emerge out of the third wave."
He added, "I am very confident that connectivity will increase in the days to come. In the next 30 days to 45 days, I think you will see many more planes being diverted towards India with regard to the very robust demand for international traffic also that the country is projecting."
Watch the complete interview to know more.
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