Civil Aviation

Increasing industrialisation, an expanding economy and a growing movement of people and freight, the demand for air travel, is propelling the aviation sector to greater heights. To unleash the industry’s potential, the Government of India launched a Regional Connectivity Scheme called ‘UDAN’ to make air travel affordable and accessible by connecting Tier-2 and Tier-3 with major hubs through subsidised fares and infrastructure development. Till October 2024, 86 airports with 609 routes are operational under the scheme and the target is 100 airports by 2024, including 13 Heliports and 2 Aerodromes.

Furthermore, over 29,000 Drone Acknowledgement Numbers (DAN) have been issued and 11,932 Drone Pilots are certified. Marking a record in the highest single-day air traffic since the pandemic hit, on November 19, 2023, airlines in India flew 4,56,910 domestic passengers. To facilitate the contactless, seamless processing of passengers at airports based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), the ‘Digi Yatra’ project has been launched at 13 airports nationwide. The MRO industry is another segment showing impressive developments, growing at a CAGR of 8.9%. Standing at around $1.7 Bn in 2021, the MRO market is anticipated to reach $4 Bn by 2031. To leverage this growth, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) initiated tenders in October 2021 for 12 MRO sites at 5 airports, viz. Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Begumpet (Hyderabad) and Juhu Airports.

Recently, the city of Hyderabad hosted the largest event in the civil aviation sector in Asia, ‘Wings India 2024’, which welcomed various OEMs, helicopter manufacturers, FTOs and start-ups from across the countries, underscoring the fundamentals, growth potential and investment prospect of the aviation industry in India. Moreover, by providing direct employment to over 2.5 Lakh people, the aviation and aeronautical manufacturing sector is defining the strategic progress of the industry. In the six years leading to FY 2020, the number of international passengers had also grown at a CAGR of 6.1% and international cargo volumes handled by Indian airports in the last 15 years leading to FY 2019 increased by 53%. Creating a spectrum of capacities, India envisions an aviation system that supports a $20 Tn economy by 2047 and envisages its goal to become the leading aviation market in the market when the country enters its centenary year of independence.

157 airports, 83 added in the past nine years