Fact Sheet

    India has an eminent position in the civil aviation sector with a large fleet of aircrafts. In all, 56 airlines are operating scheduled air services to and through India and 22 foreign airlines are over flying Indian territory. There are over 450 airports and 1091 registered aircrafts in the country. In addition to the three public sector airlines Air India, Indian Airlines, Alliance Air – there are two private operators – Jet Airways, Sahara India Airlines. There are also 41 non-scheduled air transport operators. Additionally 34 applicants have been granted NOC by the Ministry of Civil Aviation for setting up non scheduled air transport operation. Air Transport has a significant role to play in a vast country like India with major industrial and commercial centres located far apart.

    India has the distinction of organising the first flight by an aeroplane in the world. That was in February 1911. This airmail flight piloted by French pilot M. Picquet flew from Allahabad to Naini. However, it took more than 20 years for the country to have its own airline. In October 15, 1932, Tata Son’s Ltd – which later become Air India International – commenced weekly airmail service with a Puss Moth aircraft between Karachi and Madras via Ahmedabad and Bombay, covering over 1,300 miles. Later two more airlines – Indian National Airways in 1933 and Air Services of Indian in 1937 came up.

    The Government nationalised the airlines industry in 1953, with enactment of Air Corporation Act, and assets of nine existing air companies were transferred to the two new corporation – Air India International and the Indian Airlines. After 40 years, in 1994 Air Corporation Act was repealed ending the monopoly of the national air corporations and enabling entry of private operators.

    The liberalisation in civil aviation industry began in 1986 with the introduction if Air Taxi system to boost development of tourism. Though there were several restrictions relating to seat capacity, airports, timing and fare, the scheme was liberalised over a period of time. Even the fare was totally deregulated, allowing air taxi operators to charge any fare. With Open Sky Policy many private operators began operation in the domestic sector. The carriage increased from a modest 15,000 passengers in 1990 to more than 0.4 million in 1992. Of the total of 12.23 million passengers carried on domestic sector, private carriers carried about 5.7 million passengers.

    The civil aviation industry got a major boost with the announcement of Airport Infrastructure Policy in November, 1997 which envisages development of international hubs and regional hubs to provide a hub and spoke arrangement connecting all airports. Under the policy, infrastructure development of airport has been opened up for public and private participation. It allows 74% foreign equity participation in the airport infrastructure with automatic approval and 100 % equity on case-to-case basis.

    A new policy on domestic air transport has also been evolved. Salient features are :-

• 40% foreign equity participation in domestic airlines,
• 100% equity participation for NRIs/Overseas Corporate Bodies.
• Foreign airline equity, either directly or indirectly is not permissible.
• Operators to have freedom to determine fares for each sector.
• Domestic carriers to be allowed to fly international routes.

    Indian Airlines is the world’s largest domestic airline outside USA. Primarily a domestic airline, it was set up under Air Corporation Act, 1953 with its corporate headquarters at Delhi. Today, Indian Airlines operates to 63 destinations including 16 in foreign countries. Indian Airlines has a fleet strength of 55 aircraft including A-300 (11), A-320 (30), B-737 (11) and DO-228 (3), including 2 A-300 aircraft taken on dry lease. Indian Airlines and private airlines are now providing about 52,000 seats daily.

    Vayudoot Limited, incorporated as a private limited company in January 1981 for connecting inaccessible areas of the North-Eastern region and station which are important centres of trade and tourism, was merged with Indian Airlines in 1994.

    Alliance Air (Airline Allied Services Limited), a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian Airlines, was floated in 1996. It carried around 2 million passengers earned profit of Rs. 66 million during 1997-98.

    Air India Ltd. was established in 1953 with its headquarters at Mumbai. During the year 1998-99, Air India has incurred a net loss of Rs. 174.48 crore. With 26 aircraft and 18658 employees, Air India operates 46 destinations. During 1998-99 Code Share Arrangements with Air France/Swiss Air/Scandinavian Airlines/Austrian Airlines/Asiana Airlines/Kuwait Airways and Belliview/Singapore Airlines were initiated and/or expanded. Air India carried 3.16 million passengers in 1998-99.

    During 1998-99, as many as 493 charters landed in India carrying 101889 foreign tourists upto December, 1999.

    Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd. was established in 1956 to render helicopter service for the oil sector, to link inaccessible area in hilly terrain and to provide tourist charter services. Pawan Hans is providing helicopter services to the Government of Himachal Pradesh and Border Security Force. It earned net profit of Rs. 699 million and 651 million during 1998-99 and 1999-2000 respectively. With a fleet strength of 30, Pawan Hans has flown 2.55 lakh hours and carried 5.1 million passengers and 1,00,000 tonnes of cargo till date.

    There are 450 airports in the country including those managed by Defence Services, State Governments and private parties. Of these, 120 airports are managed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) including twelve international airports. 80 are civil airports and 28 civil enclaves at the Defence airports. The existing airports at Hyderabad, Bangalore Ahmedabad, Goa, Amritsar, Guwahati and Cochin airport at Nedumbassary have recently been declared as International airports. Government has also permitted construction of new airports on joint venture basis at Bangalore, Hyderabad and Goa.

    The Airports Authority of India was formed in 1995 by merging International Airports Authority of India and National Airports Authority to accelerate the integrated development, expansion and modernisation of the operational, terminal and cargo facilities at the international and domestic airports and also at civil enclaves. It controls and manages the entire India airspace extending even beyond the territorial limits of the country.

    A massive programme with outlay of Rs. 19,500 million for modernisation and upgradation of airports was launched in 1992. AAI has taken over the communication, navigation and surveillance/Air traffic management implemented by Raytheon International Inc. at Delhi and the same system at the Bombay Airport. AAI has identified nine airports for expansion/upgradation. These airports are – Bombay, Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, Goa and Bangalore. A number of airports of international standard are coming up in various places including Cochin, Amritsar, Calicut, Jaipur and Srinagar.

    In the area of navigational aids, nine Doppler Very High frequency Omni Range (DVO) radars, eight distance measuring equipment and three Instrument Landing System (ILS) have been installed.

    The AAI has drawn ambitious long term plans to meet challenges posed by ever increasing air traffic and advancement in aircraft technology. Some of the major plans for implementation are:

• Replacement of ground based Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) with Satellite based CNS system.
• Establishment of Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS).
• Automation in the air Traffic Control Services.
• Establishment of Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS).

• AAI earned a profit (after tax) of Rs. 208.41 crore during 1998-99 as compared to Rs. 196.14 crore during 1997-98.

    It is a national flying school set up at Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. The Akademi extends standardised and improved training facilities for pilots in the country.

    Hotel Corporation of India Limited (HCL) is a public limited company wholly owned by Air India Limited. The company was incorporated in 1971 when Air India decided to enter the Hotel industry in keeping with then prevalent trend among world airlines. The objective is to offer to the passengers a better product, both at international airports and at other places of tourist interest.

    There has been phenomenal increase in the volume of air traffic both domestic and international over last two decades. During the last 25 years, domestic air traffic has registered an annual growth of 10 per cent and Air India traffic registered an annual growth rate of over 12%.

    The Civil Aviation infrastructure has shown a remarkable growth in the past couple of decades. Airline industry also holds key to the progress of inaccessible region of North-East. This area which has very little ground transport infrastructure is heavily dependent on air transport. IATT has been exempted on the routes within North-Eastern region. Guwahati will be made a regional hub. Upgradation facilities are being done on a large scale. Five airports in the region have been installed with Night Landing Facilities.