Ready for take-off

INDIA:  It has not been a good year for the global aviation industry. Fewer passengers, rising costs, environmental concerns and security threats have all had an effect. But aviation experts in India are hopeful that this decade will bring impressive growth to airlines and airports around the country.

According to the Airports Authority of India, the number of planes taking off and landing in India grew by nearly 59 per cent last year. The number of domestic and international passengers in October 2009 was 10.7 million, up 23 per cent from a year earlier.

Deepak Shastri, director of the airport in Pune, India’s second-largest city after Mumbai, believes that the country’s aviation industry will continue to grow quickly. India's economy grew by seven per cent last year. In a country of more than one billion people, only a small percentage has ever flown, Shastri adds, so the industry will not have to depend on international flights or foreign tourists.

Pune airport has added new buildings and parking bays, says Shastri, and has doubled the number of passengers it can handle, which he expects to rise from 2 million to 2.5 million in the coming year. “Seeing the past trends, the way in which demand has increased, especially in the domestic market, we see a lot of growth,” he told the BBC.

“Demand has increased, especially in the domestic market"

Captain Anil Gadgil, who started the pilot-training school Jeet Aerospace Institute in 1991, agrees that aviation has a lot to offer. "Today, in India, hundreds and hundreds of people who have never flown are coming to the aviation industry, not just for flying, but for many other jobs.”