India has 49 air ambulances, 4100 people hired the service in 3 years: Govt

The government said on Thursday that despite economic setback from the COVID 19 pandemic, India's aviation sector has grown and it reflects in the growing number of commercial pilot licenses granted in the last three years.

New Delhi: India’s aviation sector has grown despite the challenges posed by the outbreak of COVID 19 global pandemic in 2020. The growth of the aviation sector reflects in the increasing number of commercial pilot licences granted in the last three years, expansion of flying training infrastructure and use of new flying services such as use of air ambulances in the country, said the government on Thursday.

Air ambulance service in India

The latest information shared by VK Singh, the minister of state for civil aviation in the Lok Sabha today, includes interesting data about the air ambulance services in the country. The minister said there are 49 air ambulances, including both aeroplanes and helicopters that are operating under Aero Medical Transportation (AMT). These are operated by 19 non-scheduled operators in the country. This number represents the air ambulances operated by non-scheduled operators.

While the national capital Delhi is home to the highest number of air ambulances as it accounts for nearly 80% of all the air ambulances operating in the country. As per the latest data, Delhi has 39 air ambulances, followed by Maharashtra (5 air ambulances), Kerala (2 air ambulances), Gujarat, Odisha and West Bengal with all three having one air ambulance each. Singh informed the Lok Sabha that around 4,100 patients have hired air ambulances during the last three years.

In response to a question about the availability of air ambulance services in rural areas, the minister replied that they were available in rural areas on a need and availability basis.

Commercial Pilot Licences

According to the latest information shared by VK Singh, the minister of state for civil aviation in the Lok Sabha today, the number of commercial pilot licences in India, both by the Indian and foreign flying training organizations, have gone up with the exception of 2020 when the country was under strict lockdown for a considerable part of the year. In 2019, 744 commercial pilot licences were awarded, 430 by Indian training institutes and 314 by foreign training institutes. In 2020, however, the number came down to just 578 licences, 335 by Indian flying training organizations and 243 by foreign flying training organizations.

The number however went up to 862 commercial pilot licences last year despite a deadly second COVID wave that hit the country in April-May last year and Omicron variant that hit the country in November-December last year. In 2021, 504 commercial pilot licences were awarded by Indian flying training organizations and 358 were awarded by foreign training institutes. In order to further boost the flying training in the country, the Airport Authority of India awarded the letters for establishment of nine flying training organizations in the country last year.

They will be established at five airports, two at Belagavi (Karnataka), two at Jalgaon (Maharashtra), two at Kalaburagi (Karnataka), two at Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) and one at Lilabari (Assam).