Indian airports can soon handle 500 million passengers a year: Rajiv Bansal

Airports at the country’s major metros will be able to handle about 500 million passengers a year, in the coming years, the union civil aviation secretary, Rajiv Bansal projected on Tuesday.

Speaking at the two-day CAPA India Aviation Summit 2023, the bureaucrat, underscoring the growth trajectory, insisted, ''There is no missing piece in the puzzle.''

Explaining the math, he said that between its three terminals and a fourth runway in the making, Delhi will have the annual capacity to take on 100 million passengers. This, along with the ongoing expansion at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru will make for 320 million passenger handling capacity in the six metros. Adding to this the airports coming up at Jewar in the National Capital Region and Navi Mumbai, that are expected to open by the end of this calendar, will enhance capacity to 500 million, he said.

The challenges

The man who served at the helm of Air India for a year and then again during the airline’s privatisation, pointed out, "We have always been behind the curve, and now we are trying to build ahead of the curve." He was referring to the identified gaps airport infrastructure and capacity expansion.

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He also talked of the supply chain challenges and the lack of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities. "We talk about the large orders. Acquisition of the fleet will not sustain if we don't have MROs in India," he reiterated.

Dwelling on the manpower shortage facing the Indian aviation industry, he noted, “We have demand, but no competency. So, for the first time, after many years, we are allowing FATA (Foreign Aircrew Temporary Authorisation) pilots for B777 to cater to the demand and supply mismatch.”

Privatisation

The Expression of Interest (EOI) for the privatisation of Air India Engineering Services Ltd, the engineering arm of Air India, will be floated "very soon", Bansal said, adding that it would benefit the MRO development in the country.

Clearly a votary for privatisation, he said, "Had it (Air India) been in the government sector, it wouldn't have been able to place such an order (470 aircraft order)." He also saw privatisation helping India tap into the under-penetrated mid and long-haul segments, particularly international travel.

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$1 trillion investment in FY24

CAPA India expects Indian aviation to see and investment of $1 trillion in the next financial year. This will include an addition of over 4,000 aircraft to the Indian fleet (250 of them wide-bodied and 3,825 narrow-bodied), which cost $175 billion. Among other investments $67-77 billion will go into setting up brownfield and greenfield airports, CAPA estimated.

International players

''Opportunities here (in India) are great,'' observed Sir Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airlines, adding, " the country is really on the move." The airline is looking to bring new products to the Indian market, he informed.

He, interestingly, did not see too many full-service carriers (FSCs) coming into the market and heralded the low-cost carriers (LCCs) as the growing segment.

Turkish Airlines is also courting the Indian market. "We are not getting enough (of Indian market)... we are trying to expand. This is the time,” declared Bilal Eksi, the airline's chief, adding that they are looking for cooperation with more Indian carriers, having made a start with Indigo and also reaching out to Air India.

The second day of the CAPA summit focussed on premiumisation of FSCs and the significant disruption created by LCCs competing with the traditional players on the medium and long-haul routes.