By Vijay Grover
“Regional Connectivity Scheme- RCS 2.0” was the buzzword at the Wings India 2022. The success of the UDAN scheme has taken off, and the stage is set for the Regional Connectivity platform for India’s Civil Aviation Growth story. India is among the fastest-growing aviation markets globally, and civil aviation will be a significant growth engine to make India a $5 trillion economy. India is now the third largest aviation market, which stood at 274.05 million passengers in FY20.
India was a late starter in the civil aviation sector, with connectivity restricted to major metros in the initial years. While the trunk routes became the backbone of Indian aviation, the growth is from the new routes connecting remote areas of the country. In 2003, Captain Gopinath of Deccan Aviation launched small aircraft, a low-cost flying model, which made Indians dream of flying. His innovative ₹1 tickets on every flight proved that India had an aspirational population looking forward to flying instead of trains and buses. The model inspired by Ryan Air and South West Air opened new vistas, and soon the model of a no-frill airline became popular as it offered high traffic at a low unit cost.
Deccan’s successful blueprint was adopted by several airlines, and airfares dropped by 50%. While Indigo, Spicejet, and others proliferated and thrived, the pandemic dips, using the same formula.
However, the learnings from Capt. Gopinath, who leased ATR aircraft, opened new vistas as these aircrafts could land at unused airstrips and smaller airports, adding them to the civil aviation map of India.
Two decades later, Capt. Mandaviya of FlyBig has created a revolution in the North-Eastern states. FlyBig currently operates in three states in the Northeast, covering seven cities, namely, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Lilabari, Rupsi, Pasighat, Tezu and Agartala. The routes chosen have made a major impact on people’s lives, says Capt. Sanjay Mandaviya, CMD FlyBig, “We are happy with the love that the guests in North-Eastern states shower on us, our service has been able to help them travel faster and conveniently at low cost, and they reciprocate accordingly. Road journeys of 10-12 hours have been replaced by 20-30 minute flights, and it means a lot to them.”
At Wings India 2022, participation in the UDAN scheme was on the agenda of nearly every airline, airport operator, and state government. According to Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, a multi-pronged approach has been adopted to take the sector to new heights.
“We have a long way to go. Our penetration is close to only 8 per cent today. In a country of 135 crore people, we have only 14.5 crores travelling by air. I believe today’s civil aviation is going to be tomorrow’s railways in terms of transport,” he said and assured the stakeholders that his ministry would be a constructive collaborator and not a restrictive regulator.
By 2024-25, India is poised to have 220 airports, estimates the Ministry Of Civil Aviation. The excitement is visible as states like Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are drawing plans to expand the number of districts they wish to connect with major metros. The success of the Belgavi airport, which has 112 weekly flights to various destinations, has motivated the Karnataka government to plan bigger to connect northern districts of the state. “We are looking at every opportunity to ensure that accessibility and connectivity are improved at a pace to achieve the goals of boosting connectivity,” says Hephsiba Rani Korlapati IAS, Joint Secretary Infrastructure Development Dept. Government of Karnataka.
“If we are targeting a city for boosting air-links, it’s not just for tourism or any one sector, but for comprehensive development. The ripple effect on all sectors, including social sectors like health and education, or other big businesses which needs faster connectivity is enormous and rapidly growing,” says Hephsiba Rani. Karnataka has a task cut out to ensure connectivity across the 31 districts of the state. The government announced the Raichur Airport in the recent budget, with cities like Belagavi, Hubbali, Mysuru, and Kalburgi already well connected with Bengaluru. The government is looking at the feasibility of making the new airports a success and functional. The state has also come out with innovative ways to fund the project faster to make it achievable and economically viable.
Neighbouring Maharashtra is racing to develop semi-urban airports Infrastructure. The state, which has floated a new company, Maharashtra Airports Development Corporation, is working on expansion of Nagpur Airport and the greenfield airports at Amaravati and Chandrapur, which have been asking for connectivity. The state just a few weeks back had put Gondia on the map. Still, the flight operation is already facing challenges of diversion and delays due to the lack of proper infrastructure at Gondia. Flybig airlines, which recently flagged the operations and operated the service between Hyderabad – Gondia – Indore, hopes that the initial glitches will be sorted out soon.
Haryana is looking at setting up aviation infrastructure in the state, even though the state has New Delhi and Chandigarh airports, which are widely used. The state is working on developing the Hissar Aviation Hub as a project to develop flight training, a regional connectivity hub and MRO services. The airport, which was upgraded for domestic flights under the government’s UDAN scheme with a technical collaboration with AAI, was completed by December 2018 and domestic flights operate for Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Jammu and Dehradun.
Spicejet plans to set up a pilot training academy to train 100 pilots every year. The existing Flying Training School, Hisar Institute of Civil Aviation, has been running successfully.
Maharaja Agrasen International Airport, as the Hisar Airport is called, is undergoing rapid work on Phase II. The proposal is underway to have a second runway and a new terminal building, three hangars, strengthening the runway, and installing night-flying equipment. The government hopes that with the completion of Phase III of the Hisar project, Hisar will be able to handle all types of aircraft and have enough parking bays to become a counter magnet for the IGIA Delhi airport.
It is not just the airlines that are excited about the Indian aviation growth story; global aviation giants are also looking at India with immense hope. Global major Embraer, which has been trying to enter the Indian markets, is pitching its Embraer E 195 displayed at Wings India 2022 as part of its demonstrator tour around India. Displaying the stunning ‘TechLion’ Livery that covers the entire aircraft fuselage, this aircraft is the most prominent member of the new generation E-Jets E2. It is designed to seat up to 146 passengers in its signature two by two seating.
According to Embraer’s Analysis, Even before COVID, 50% of domestic flights in India had between 90-150 passengers per flight. This makes the E195-E2’s combination of the ideal capacity, and low unit cost a compelling platform for connections. Embraer is currently in talks with several Indian Airline companies to promote its E2 Jets; the seating capacity that the E-195 offers will bring down operational costs for the airlines per seat, thus benefiting the end-user.
As UDAN takes off and the sector expands across the country, flight for the common man, once only a dream, is now close to reality.
