India is eager to establish international aviation hubs in the nation by taking advantage of its burgeoning international passenger flow that included civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
With a substantial amount of traffic—about 155 million domestic and 60 million foreign passengers—the government is investigating the establishment of international aviation hubs, with a trial project slated to begin in Delhi.
Additionally, the government wants to provide local and international airlines more flying rights for “point-to-point” traffic. New Delhi is allegedly against giving more flying rights to nations that have used Indian traffic to establish their own aviation hubs.
Unlike the hub-and-spoke approach, which involves flying passengers from smaller “spoke” airports to a central “hub” airport and then transferring them to flights going to other hubs, direct point-to-point flights allow passengers to travel directly to their destination without the need for stopovers.
“Any country that wishes to enter and receive point-to-point traffic beyond a five- to six-hour flying radius is welcome to do so,” Scindia stated.
The shift in governmental perspective coincides with Indian carriers, including Air India and IndiGo, continuing to press forward with their global growth due to an increase in air travel.
Global aviation hubs cut down on travel time by ensuring instantaneous connectivity between domestic and international planes.
According to Scindia, the ministry of civil aviation is working with the ministries of finance, tourism, external affairs, and home affairs to create a detailed strategy and assign roles.
International airlines are drawn to India’s burgeoning aviation sector because of the country’s rapid domestic aviation recovery. According to data, air traffic in December exceeded pre-COVID levels and reached a record 13.8 million passengers.
