Privatisation of airports by the civil aviation ministry on the cards

Aviation expert Subhash Goyal said that DGCA and privatisation of airports by the civil aviation ministry has brought more transparency in the sector in the 100 days of the Modi government's second term

New Delhi:Privatisation of airports by the civil aviation ministry, regulations for flying drones and online security clearances by the country's aviation watchdog, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has brought more transparency in the sector Modi government's second term.

" After the bidding of six airports under public-private partnership (PPP), the blueprint is also ready and this will not only bring a lot of investment but also improve the condition of airports and make them world standard," said the aviation expert Subhash Goyal.

Goyal said that only those companies can run airports who have deep pockets because airports need huge investment. He said the decision to go for the privatisation of airports had no harm as the PPP model is working efficiently in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore airports.

Showing his concern over expensive air-travel cost in India, Goyal opined there had to be a capping of the fares as it had become more expensive than international flights during the peak season.

On the proposed Air India disinvestment plan, the aviation expert said that the main focus of the government this time should be to wave-off the debt burden of the State-run airline.

"If they remove the debt, then the national carrier will show an operating profit," he said. "To make Air India profitable Warriors training programmes like IT training, aviation training, cabin-crew training can also be conducted."

According to Goyal, once all the 400 airports become operational, it would act as a multiplier on the economy, because tourism, trade and commerce would grow."Earlier, we had about 400 airports, and out of that only 100 were operational. But now, things have changed in the Modi government and the number of operational airports has increased," he said.