There are 141 operational airports in the country, which include eight heliports, and two waterdromes, while air operators certificate have been issued to three carriers – Jet Airways, Akasa Air and IndiaOne Air, the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, said in a response to the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
According to him, there were 74 airports with schedule operations in the country till 2014.
“The Government plans to develop/operationalise 220 airports, heliports, water aerodromes in the next five years,” he said during his response.
Scindia added that the aircraft fleet across domestic carriers, which stood at 686 till July 25 of this year, is expected to grow in the range of 10-12 per cent in the coming years. The fleet, pre-2014 was 410. “Expansion of fleet is a continuous process and airlines take appropriate decision to meet the growing demands in the aviation sector,” he aded.
The cumulative number of pilots licenses issued by DGCA till date was 40,276; which was at 28599 prior to 2014.
“Demand of pilots by 2025 depends upon the traffic and expansion of the fleet by airlines. Given the fleet projection, it is felt that India may require around 1,000 pilots per annum over the next five years,” the Union minister said.