Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said, India is seeing for the first time the democratization of civil aviation. Speaking at the flagging off function of India’s new airline services Akasa Air today, Mr Scindia said it is with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India is first time seeing the democratization of civil aviation where even the common man can even afford to travel in airlines. He said that in last eight years India has seen an unprecedented transformation in terms of accessibility, availability, affordability and inclusion in the civil aviation sector.
The Minister said, Indian civil aviation industry is third largest in the world and the second fastest growing aviation industry in the world. In last eight years, India has seen 425 new routes and is planning to start 1000 routes. Mr Scindia said Civil aviation is a high potential investment sector with three times growth and has the potential to generate heavy direct and indirect employment. Speaking about Akasa Airline, Mr Scindia said it is going to create a huge positive impact in the aviation sector. The airline’s first scheduled flight was flagged off today morning from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
The airline will start services on the Bengaluru-Kochi route from August 13 and Bengaluru-Mumbai route from August 19. The airline said that the newly commencing daily flights between Chennai and Mumbai will start from September 15. Akasa Air, backed by investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and aviation veterans Aditya Ghosh and Vinay Dube, got its air operator certificate from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on July 7.
