A “bullishness” greets the skies as more passengers are set to step into airports and more aircraft, including A350s, are ready to carry them in expanding routes in 2024 even as the fate of two bankrupt airlines remain uncertain. A slew of airports and terminal building inaugurations and revised norms to address pilot fatigue issue will also happen in the new year.
“As far as goals for 2024 are concerned, it is to enable many more airports to be put in place, the fleet size to grow… we are getting roughly 2-5 planes a month between Air India, IndiGo and Akasa Air.
“We are going to rapidly expand our connectivity and it is also our intent to try and establish the first international air hub in India,” Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told PTI in an interview.
Air India and IndiGo placing orders for 970 planes, Go First filing for voluntary insolvency proceedings, an amended insolvency framework to address aircraft lessors’ concerns, and air passenger traffic touching a record high of more than 4.63 lakh in a single day in November, were among the key developments in 2023.
Scindia emphasised there is a “bullishness with regard to civil aviation” and the outlook is positive.
“As far as airlines are concerned, we need to concentrate on a great travel experience, increased OTP (On Time Performance) and make sure we have as many aircraft in the air,” the minister said.
For 2024, the country’s largest airline IndiGo’s CEO Pieter Elbers said the demand for air travel remains robust, and despite the global supply chain challenges, the overall operating environment remains conducive. While profitability will be uncertain, aviation consultancy CAPA Advisory said that after a long time, India has a stable airline system led by IndiGo and Air India Group.
Looking back at 2023, following are among the notable developments.
Go First, long impacted by Pratt & Whitney engine problems, filed for voluntary insolvency proceedings in May. Legal battles started by Go First lessors looking to take back their planes deepened and even forced the government to amend certain norms under the insolvency law. Prior to that, 2023 started off on a turbulent note for Tata Group-owned Air India as an incident of a drunk passenger allegedly urinating on a woman onboard an international flight that happened in 2022 flared up and aviation regulator DGCA also slapped a fine on the carrier. Few other incidents, including non-compliance with certain safety norms involving various airlines, also saw action being taken by DGCA.
Tata Group is consolidating its airline business and the merger of AirAsia India with Air India Express is almost complete while that of Vistara with Air India is still in the works.