The Hindu Business Line : Flying safe

The Civil Aviation Ministry is involved in a high-pitched public relations exercise to promote India’s arrival on the international aviation scene. In its zealousness, the Ministry is also rooting for liberalising the sector further, and allowing even start-ups to fly abroad, doing away with the current guidelines. While there can be hardly any opposition to the fact that more Indian carriers need to fly abroad, the issue needs careful consideration. Aviation is a sensitive area and the issues of infrastructure and safety need to be of paramount concern.

With approximately 530 aircraft in the skies — estimated to go up to 1,100 by 2009 — India’s airports are already buckling under a severe space crunch. Landing and parking slots are just not available during peak hours at many airports. Worse, terminals are bursting at the seams, with passengers often finding it difficult to wade through check-in and security screening.

With the opening of Indian skies to private and international operators between 2000-01 and 2005-06, the number of aircraft movements grew from 4.90 lakh to 8.38 lakh, and passenger traffic from 4.20 crore to 7.33 crore, according to the data on aviation. This has put immense pressure on airport infrastructure, especially at the metros. Thus it was laid down in the Tenth Five Year Plan that navigation and surveillance facilities were to be upgraded as a matter of priority to be in line with world standards.

The Group of Ministers, therefore, needs to discuss the issue threadbare and preferably impress upon the various stake-holders the long-standing need for a civil aviation regulator before any further liberalisation of the sector is allowed.

Arun Kumar Singh New Delhi