'Air taxis to soon become a reality in India': PM Modi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said affordable air taxis will soon become a reality in India, bringing ease of travel in cities through advanced air mobility.

At the second Asia Pacific Ministerial conference of civil aviation, he spoke about creating a future in which "everyone’s dream of flying is fulfilled and the skies are open for all". The two-day conference ended with the PM announcing unanimous passing a “Delhi Declaration.”

“India’s aviation sector has seen a landmark transformation in the last decade. From an exclusive domain of the well to do in big cities, aviation here has become affordable for the lower middle class ins mall cities too. Our UDAN scheme has seen 1.4 crore people fly within a few years of its launch,” Modi said.

India is the fastest growing aviation market globally and airlines have ordered over 1,200 aircraft so far. While promising significant investment on infra — both building new airports in Tier II/III cities and expanding existing ones in bigger cities — Modi also stressed on two more factors that this sector requires — constant technological innovations and availability of trained manpower like pilots, cabin crew, engineers.

“We are developing the entire aviation ecosystem in India. Before the end of this decade, we will be a $4 billion maintenance, repair, overhaul (MRO) industry here through supportive policies,” he said.

The PM highlighted that 15% of all pilots in India are women — three times the global average of 5%. “The sector is going to see women at all roles in great numbers.” He also spoke about his push for using drones in the agro sector. “Through our drone didi scheme, we have prepared a large number of trained drone pilots.”

The two-day conference saw participation of delegates from 29 countries and eight international organisations including International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which celebrated its 80 years of operations as part of the conference. Regarding the Delhi Declaration adopted at the end of the meet, Modi said the same will help achieve shared goals of the region for improved and safer air transportation.

Union aviation minister Rammohan Naidu said: “Under PM Modi’s leadership, India is set to achieve its goal of having 350-400 airports by 2047, positioning the nation as a key player in global aviation. By delivering vaccines across APAC, India reinforced its commitment to ‘one world, one planet, one future, one family’.”

Aviation secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said “a collaborative approach with all the stakeholders right from top civil aviation leaders to international organisations and startups can only lay a robust path ahead.”

President of Council of ICAO, said: “Our primary focus is to continue to pursue high levels of safety and security. We must remain focused on enhancing these fundamental aspects of aviation, not allowing ourselves to become complacent when we consider the very positive statistics.”