India To Have 1,400 Additional Planes, 220 Airports In Next Five Years: Civil Aviation Ministry

India will have more than 200 airports, heliports and water aerodromes in the next five years and Indian carriers will order up to 1,400 additional planes during the period, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Wednesday (7 June).

Addressing a press conference on the aviation sector's performance during the nine years of Prime Minister Modi government, Scindia said India had 74 airports (including heliports and waterports) till 2014 and the number has now doubled to 148.

He also laid emphasis on how the northeast part of the country has now got eight more airports.

Scindia said, "There were some states in the region where there were no airports but today, Arunachal Pradesh has three new airports, Sikkim also has an airport now."

He also spoke of the need to ensure airline ticket prices — which have surged (for various reasons) since domestic air travel resumed post-Covid lockdowns — remain 'within a certain limit'.

"We must make sure maximum prices are within a certain limit... we have conveyed that message very clearly to airlines," he said.

"We cannot have prices way beyond what should rationally be done, specifically when we have certain instances take place, such as the Go First situation or other calamities or extenuating circumstances," the Minister said, referring to Go First's insolvency proceedings.

During last nine years, 11 more Greenfields airports have been operationalized.

In 2013-14, India saw 60 million domestic flyers. Now, this number is 145 million, up by 135 per cent. Similarly, the number of international air travellers has grown by 50 per cent during the period, from 47 million to 70 million.

"Besides, cargo including both domestic and international has grown by 65 per cent from 2.2 million tonnes to 3.6 million tonnes. We have become the world's third largest aviation market due to the progressive policies adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.

Talking about the increase in the fleet size, Scindia said in 2014, the number of aircraft with Indian carriers was 400, which has gone up to 700 now, registering a 75 per cent growth.