India needs 1,000 aircrafts in 10 years time

New Delhi, Aug 27 (UNI) To tap maximum potential of the aviation sector, India needs to put in sound infrastructure facilities for both national and international tourists and increase its fleet size to about 1,000 from 250 aircrafts in next 10 years, an industry chamber said here today.

India is one of the least penetrated markets of air travel, with about 1,000 Indians accustomed to taking to air travel, perform nearly 20 trips in a year as against 60 in China and 2,300 in the United States, a study jointly conducted by Assocham and Ernst and Young said.

''The basic and main reason for this abhorrent lack of advance in aviation industry in India is the absence of proper infrastructure, including international airports, domestic aerodrome conveniences and air control and navigational facilities,'' Assocham President Venugopal N Dhoot said.

About 40 per cent of passenger traffic in the country is concentrated in the two main airports of Delhi and Mumbai.

While, country's top five airports account for over 70 per cent of traffic and the top 25 account for almost 95 per cent of the air traffic.

At present, about 25 per cent of the country's total domestic movement is between top six metros, the study said.

It said India has more than 400 airports which can be connected by air and currently less than 100 are serviced despite the entry of new airlines.

Tourism sector being an important industry accounting for 2.5 per cent of the country's GDP and ranks as the third largest foreign exchange earner.

It added that the tourism driven economies like Thailand and Indonesia see a passenger count of 21.2 million and 9.4 million per year respectively.

Countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and countries with poorer GDP such as Ethiopia and Nigeria fly more passengers per annum than India, it added.

UNI