‘220 new airports for India in just three years’, says aviation minister

Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday underlined the importance of the aviation industry for the Indian economy and said that the government has set a target of creating 220 new airports by 2025. Scindia made the announcement in the Lok Sabha while responding to demands for grants of the civil aviation ministry for 2022-23. Scindia said that India had moved forward in domestic and international travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Cargo flights for perishable food items will be increased to 30 per cent with 133 new flights in the coming years,” Scindia was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The aviation minister also said that steps will be taken to simplify the process of granting pilot licenses using advanced technologies. He added that the government intends to create 33 new domestic cargo terminals, set up 15 new flight training schools for pilots, create more jobs, and increase focus on the drone sector.

“With this, Government has set a target of creating 220 new airports by 2025,” he said.

Hailing the high proportion of women pilots in the country, he said: “In all other countries, only five per cent of the pilots are female. In India, over 15 per cent of pilots are female. This is another example of women empowerment. There has been a lot of changes in the aviation industry in the last 20-25 years.”

“Earlier only big cities had airports. Today that has changed completely. This is the reason why the civil aviation industry has become a key element of India’s economy. The amount of employment generated in the industry is massive,” he said.

In the past seven days, 3.82 lakh passengers per day undertook air travel, the minister informed the House. He told the House that the ministry wants to increase passenger throughput from 34.5 million in 2018-19 to 40 million in 2023-24.

Scindia said 90 flights sent to five countries evacuated students from Ukraine.

( With inputs from agency )