New Delhi: Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia inaugurated a direct flight between Mumbai and San Francisco on Thursday. In his address, Scindia said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Civil Aviation Sector in India is on the cusp of a transformation. It only had 74 airports in the first 68 years of India’s independence which has now increased 145 including heliports and water aerodromes. There has been the democratisation of Civil Aviation in the country. From a very low base of close to 63 million travellers in 2013- 14, we have reached 144 million travellers in the year 2019- 20. Similar growth has been experienced from the international side as well.
The Minister urged Indian carriers to look at increasing international traffic and to get more wide-bodied aircraft to capture the long-haul route market which is currently dominated by international carriers. He added that the government is in the discussion with major airlines to establish India’s first international hub in Delhi which will have a multiplier effect on all sectors of the economy.
The Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Secretary of Ministry of Civil Aviation Rajiv Bansal, Campbell Wilson, CEO-Air India, and other senior officials from AAI and MoCA were also present.
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