Vantage | India's real aviation story isn't about flight delays but the takeoffs

This week was a nightmare for Indian aviation. Temperatures dropped across northern India. Most airports were engulfed by fog. So hundreds of flights got delayed. It led to some pretty bizarre incidents, like passengers punching pilots and travellers eating dinner on the tarmac. Not a good look! It was a reality check for Indian aviation, but it is not the full story. India’s aviation boom India had just 74 airports ten years ago; today, it has 148. The plan is to have 220 airports by the end of 2030. Also, more Indians are flying today. In 2023, air traffic hit an all-time high. India logged around 153 million domestic passengers. That’s around 2,900 flights per day. It was much higher than pre-covid levels. Estimates say the year 2024 will be even better. In the last decade, for example, in 2010, India’s air traffic was much lower. There are just around 51 million domestic passengers. So things have improved, and why is that? One reason is access; if more cities have airports, more people will fly. But that alone is not enough. People should be able to afford flights. Hence, reason number two: India’s middle class has grown consistently. It will make up 38 percent of the population by 2031 and 60 percent of the population by 2047.

Airlines have seen potential in India Indian carriers placed massive orders last year. They are buying almost 1,000 planes. Air India has ordered 470 planes; Indigo has ordered 500. So clearly, they see the potential. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out a vision in 2017 that everyone should be able to fly, not just the rich Indians. How close are we to that target? Today, 3 percent of India’s population flies regularly—that is, 42 million people. Compare that to the US, which has around 145 million. How do we get there? There will be organic growth; as income increases, more people will fly. That’s a long-term change. But there are other factors too. For example, what if flight rates were cheaper? More people fly, then? The logical answer is yes, but for cheaper flights, you need competition. You need a crowded field. Just look at China; around 43 scheduled airlines operate there, and in India? Just 17, same with daily flights. Around 13 thousand flights take off every day in China. Here, it’s less than 3,000. Clearly, that needs to change. If more players enter the market, prices will drop. That’s the main challenge, because right now, it’s like a duopoly. Indigo makes up 60 percent of the market share, while Tata’s carriers make up 26 percent. So two firms control 86 percent of India’s market. Naturally, prices will be high, and you can’t blame them either because Indian carriers are running huge losses. In the last financial year, their losses were 17,000 crore rupees. This year, it will be around 4,000 crores. So the trajectory is good, but unless the business is profitable, more firms won’t join. Of course, all this will take time; it requires the government and the private sector to work together. Just one word of advice: Don’t cut corners. Airports across Asia have become the gold standard. They are attractions in themselves. So India needs to keep up—with technology, with innovation, and with more investments. For instance, the new Bengaluru airport terminal, which is designed like a garden, is being talked about outside of India. The same is true with regulation. It is important to keep a close watch on airports. To make sure rules are not flouted. So, India’s aviation sector is primed for takeoff; it has grown leaps and bounds in the last few decades. However, making it accessible to the masses and making it profitable are the only challenges that remain. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.