Govt working to create aviation hub in India: V K Singh

New Delhi, Feb 13 (PTI) The government is working to create an aviation hub in India and various steps, including airlines inducting wide-body aircraft and increasing their fleet size, are being taken, Union minister V K Singh said on Monday.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, he said the civil aviation ministry has consulted the stakeholders and has asked the aviation industry to come together to develop India as a hub for aviation.

To a query on whether it is a fact that the ministry is actively working on creating an international aviation hub for international and domestic passengers in India by utilising Indian airports and Indian aircraft, he replied in the affirmative.

The steps taken in this regard include consultations with airlines and airports to bring in synergy between the two, airports exploring new technologies like Automated People Mover system and intelligent solutions for congestion management, and airports improving their infrastructure to reduce transfer time/ minimum connection time, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation said.

According to the minister, airlines are inducting wide body aircraft and increasing their fleet size.

India has become the third-largest aviation market in the world and is growing rapidly, with the number of airports increasing to 147 from just 74 in 2014, President Droupadi Murmu said last month.