Widen air transport system: Vayalar

Kochi, May 20 (UNI) Reiterating the importance of air transport in economic development, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi today said the global challenge to the aviation sector was to widen air transport system and develop overall efficient infrastructure for the sector.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the 11th Annual General Meeting of Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) here, Mr Ravi said air transport had a pivotal role to play in the movement of capital, goods and people across continents in the increasing globalising world.

He said the Indian aviation sector was aiming to make air travel affordable for every citizen and establish world-class aviation infrastructure.

''By promoting country's aviation sector, we can potentially generate millions of jobs for the vast skilled and trained manpower of India,'' he noted.

Mr Ravi said the domestic air transport industry was growing at a fast rate and the traffic had increased from 14 million passengers in 2003 to over 33 million passengers in 2006.

''India has a liberal foreign direct investment (FDI) regime as 100 per cent FDI is permitted in greenfield airport projects and upto 49 per cent in domestic air transport services through automatic route,'' the Minister said.

The developing countries, including India were facing four challenges in the aviation sector -- infrastructure constraints, shortage of trained manpower, absence of secondary airports and better working conditions and higher compensation for employees in the industry, he said More UNI