The year 2006 is gone in the realms of the past and 2007 is here with new hopes ,new beginnings and new possibilities. The time has again come to review and take stock of the past actions and trends vis-a-vis the present with an accontability to the FUTURE.

The civil aviation sector today is on a new high and portrays a bright and promising future for India. The recent wave of liberalisation of the skies has produced a rapid transition of the entire gamut of aviation sector from being 'classy' and 'elite' to 'affordable' among the common masses by means of low cost fares, effective sectoral connectivity and emergence of a number of private players.

The year 2005-2006 emerged as a landmark year with an increase of 25% in domestic air travel for the second time in a row and in our very own Jaipur Airport the growth rate is perhaps the highest in India with a more than 45% growth in domestic air travel. Also India recorded more than 15% rise in International air travel and 19% in cargo movement. The credit for this phenomenal growth in aviation sector is due to-

• opening up of the sector to a number of private carriers enhancing efficiency and competitiveness in airline operations and services.

• Negotiation in better bilateral air services agreements with major countries like USA, UK, Germany etc

• Limited open sky policy in in international air travel

• Airports conferred infrastructure status and covered by PPP , the new Govt. initiative 

• The initiative by the Govt. to modernize and restructure Mumbai and Delhi Airports at an estimated investment of US $3 billion over the next 20years

• The initiative to construct new Greenfield Airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad

• The initiative to modernize and upgrade facilities of 35 non metro Airports at an estimated investment of US $10,1877 billion over the next five years

• The initiative to upgrade skills and infrastructure facilities in Flying Schools and Flying clubs 

The SKY is CLEAR as far as the aviation forecast goes and time is proper and opportune now to review and learn from our past mistakes and carry out the necessary corrections to usher in future growth.

The domestic Airline Industry loses approximately Rs.40 million a day because of delays and diversions. A single flight diverted costs an airline close to Rs.450,000/-.So, one can imagine the total cost incurred on this count by all the airlines. Just mind boggling.

Despite the rapid growth in the aviation sector,  just over 60 pilots of Air India and 90 pilots of Indian have been trained and approved by DGCA for CAT-3A&B ILS operations. All Private Airlinesoperating in India are yet to train their pilots because training a single pilot on the CAT 3B ILS costs upwards of Rs.1 million and many airlines are hesitant to invest such a huge amount for a two week long fog problem in Delhi Airport.  

We need to plan our growth on a long term basis and sustain the growth rate for a healthy economy. More so because a rising India is going to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010, Cricket World Cup in 2011 and make a bid for 2014 Asian Games. Our Airports need to be passenger friendly our Airlines need to be customer oriented and our Air Navigation Services to our valued customers the very BEST. LET ALL OF US STRIVE AND AFFIRM TO DO OUR BEST. For all our sakes.