KOCHI: The central government has in principle approved a plan to develop the Kannur airport on the lines of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), according to Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
The state government’s stake is limited to 26% while the rest was offered to the public and financial institutions. Briefing reports on the deliberations at the meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Aviation held here yesterday.
Patel said Air India Express would start its operation from Hyderabad in the later part of this year providing connectivity to the Gulf Region.
The minister offered federal assistance to the Kerala to promote tourism industry “The government is committed to providing better connectivity and infrastructure,” he said. Kerala is already well connected to West Asia and the government wants connectivity to destinations such as Europe as well.
“This was a good year for civil aviation and there are big opportunities as well. Domestic growth was around 50% this year, while the international sector grew by about 25%,” he said. In the year 2005-06, aircraft movement in the country was 0.84mn of which 0.26mn was in Southern India. Total passenger traffic in India during this period was 73.35mn of which Southern India accounted for 22.24mn - 30.3%.
The Committee had extensive deliberations on better connectivity for south India and Kerala. The government is contemplating induction of 80-seater small aircraft to provide better connectivity to small cities across India.
It is also looking into the possibility of connecting pilgrimage centres such as Tirupati, Sabarimala, Vaishno Devi, Ajmer Sheriff and Shirdi. He said the proposed Air India-Indian merger was ‘very much in the process’.
The issue had been discussed by the Group of Ministers and the next meeting would be held on February 21, he said.
“It’s important that the merger takes place. When Air India and Indian Airlines were started, they enjoyed a monopoly. Now, many private airlines were operating in the domestic and international routes. Our carriers should also be able to compete with them effectively,” he said.
Southern India accounts for almost one-thirds of the entire air traffic of the country. There are 29 airports in Southern India. Scheduled air services are available to and from 19 airports which include five in Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Tirupati, Vijayawada and Vizag), five in Karnataka (Banglaore, Belgaum, Hubli, Mangalore and Vidyanagar), three in Kerala (Calicut, Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram), five in Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichi and Tuticorin) and one in Lakshadweep (Agatti). Air Deccan provides the maximum connectivity in Southern Indian connecting 18 stations.
Airlines connects 10 stations, Alliance Air four, Jet Airways nine, Air Sahara six, Paramount eight, Kingfisher 12, Spice Jet three, Go Air four and IndiGo three stations.
In the Southern region the number of weekly departures would be going up this summer from the present 2938 departures to 3734 departures per week-an increase of 27%.
The members of the committee, who reviewed in detail the infrastructure and connectivity to the Southern India, stressed on aviation related development of tourism of the region.
Patel said his ministry had approached the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for allowing 100% foreign direct investment in seaplane so as to build connectivity and tourism opportunities along the long coastline of India and islands which have great potential for high-end tourism.
The state government’s stake is limited to 26% while the rest was offered to the public and financial institutions. Briefing reports on the deliberations at the meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Aviation held here yesterday.
Patel said Air India Express would start its operation from Hyderabad in the later part of this year providing connectivity to the Gulf Region.
The minister offered federal assistance to the Kerala to promote tourism industry “The government is committed to providing better connectivity and infrastructure,” he said. Kerala is already well connected to West Asia and the government wants connectivity to destinations such as Europe as well.
“This was a good year for civil aviation and there are big opportunities as well. Domestic growth was around 50% this year, while the international sector grew by about 25%,” he said. In the year 2005-06, aircraft movement in the country was 0.84mn of which 0.26mn was in Southern India. Total passenger traffic in India during this period was 73.35mn of which Southern India accounted for 22.24mn - 30.3%.
The Committee had extensive deliberations on better connectivity for south India and Kerala. The government is contemplating induction of 80-seater small aircraft to provide better connectivity to small cities across India.
It is also looking into the possibility of connecting pilgrimage centres such as Tirupati, Sabarimala, Vaishno Devi, Ajmer Sheriff and Shirdi. He said the proposed Air India-Indian merger was ‘very much in the process’.
The issue had been discussed by the Group of Ministers and the next meeting would be held on February 21, he said.
“It’s important that the merger takes place. When Air India and Indian Airlines were started, they enjoyed a monopoly. Now, many private airlines were operating in the domestic and international routes. Our carriers should also be able to compete with them effectively,” he said.
Southern India accounts for almost one-thirds of the entire air traffic of the country. There are 29 airports in Southern India. Scheduled air services are available to and from 19 airports which include five in Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Tirupati, Vijayawada and Vizag), five in Karnataka (Banglaore, Belgaum, Hubli, Mangalore and Vidyanagar), three in Kerala (Calicut, Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram), five in Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichi and Tuticorin) and one in Lakshadweep (Agatti). Air Deccan provides the maximum connectivity in Southern Indian connecting 18 stations.
Airlines connects 10 stations, Alliance Air four, Jet Airways nine, Air Sahara six, Paramount eight, Kingfisher 12, Spice Jet three, Go Air four and IndiGo three stations.
In the Southern region the number of weekly departures would be going up this summer from the present 2938 departures to 3734 departures per week-an increase of 27%.
The members of the committee, who reviewed in detail the infrastructure and connectivity to the Southern India, stressed on aviation related development of tourism of the region.
Patel said his ministry had approached the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for allowing 100% foreign direct investment in seaplane so as to build connectivity and tourism opportunities along the long coastline of India and islands which have great potential for high-end tourism.
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