Unexpected Surge In Air Passenger Traffic Clogged Airports, Says Scindia

The number of daily air passengers at airports unexpectedly reached all-time highs in December, leading to congestion at major airports, according to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiradtiya Scindia.

“I do not think that anyone had put in place a thinking that we'll be reaching new highs this season,” Scindia told BQ Prime's Manvi Sinha Dhillon. “Now that led to a tremendous amount of clogging.”

The minister said the pre-Covid high was 4.15 lakh passengers per day, which was breached successively for seven to 10 days, hitting 4.28 lakh passengers per day during the peak. “There has been a huge urge for people to fly, and that's a great thing.”

Complaints of people missing flights despite reaching the airport on time, huge crowds, passengers jumping queues, and overwhelmed staff at major airports flooded social media as the infrastructure failed to manage a surge in flyers, driven by the festive season and revenge travel after the pandemic.

The minister had to personally visit the Delhi airport to take stock of the situation. After his visit, the number of entry gates was increased, the number of flights during peak hours was reduced, and new X-ray screening and automatic tray retrieval systems were added.

More streamlined and better utilisation of space, greater throughput, and reduction of takeoffs in peak hours helped in easing the congestion at airports, Scindia said.

Supply Challenges

The aviation minister listed two steps that the ministry took to aid carriers' fleet expansion plans to manage supply-chain challenges.

The scope of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme was expanded to free up greater working capital for airlines, and wet leasing of aircraft was eased to six plus six months from three plus three months, he said.

ECLGS scheme was earlier limited to close to Rs 400 crore and about 50% of the airline's working capital, which was expanded to almost Rs 1,500 crores and 100% of working capital.

Wet leasing rules, however, will be eased on a case-by-case basis.

"The ministry would like to know whether you are looking at wet leasing using wide-body aircraft for long-haul routes or are you really looking at narrow-body aircraft for short-haul, which are the destinations," he said.  

Gateway For Flights

The aviation ministry is working with the industry to make India a hub for both eastbound and westbound flights, the minister said. Unfortunately, over the years, India has lost its market to its neighbours, he said.

"So you have a tremendous market within India, and there's no reason why our flag carriers cannot take our population to various parts of the globe, and I want to create a hub in India as opposed to a hub being outside our country," Scindia said.

But for aviation to be a mature industry in India, it needs to have a complete ecosystem with ground handling;, maintenance, repair, and overhaul services; flying training organisations; and ancillary parts suppliers, much like the automobile industry, Scindia said.