Air travel in India is cheaper than auto-rickshaw fares, says aviation minister

On Saturday, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha asserted that travelling by air in India is more pocket-friendly now as compared to the fare paid by passengers for travelling in auto-rickshaws.
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Reportedly, the statement was made at the 27th International Management Conference of the Indore Management Association (IMA). "In today's India, the fares of airplanes are lower than that of auto-rickshaws. Some people will say that I am talking nonsense, but this is true," the minister told the press.

Supporting his claim with facts and figures, Sinha said, "These days, passengers spend only INR 5 per kilometre on air travel from Indore to Delhi. But if you take an auto-rickshaw in this city, then you need to spend a relatively higher price of INR 8 to 10 per kilometre."
The aviation minister also said that the passenger count for flight travel has increased as India offers the cheapest flight fares across the globe. He also backed his claim by mentioning the remark recently made by Finance Minister Arjun Jaitley that those wearing ‘hawai chappals’ will now be able to fly in ‘hawai jahaj’ (air planes).


Furthermore, Sinha stated that about 4 years back the headcount of passengers travelling by air was 11 crore, which might reach 20 crore by the end of current financial year.

He laid stress on encouraging innovation in entrepreneurship to render cheaper services to the common man to beat more prosperous countries like the United States of America and China. In addition to this, Sinha encouraged entrepreneurs to take the lead so that India could have passenger drones, helicopter taxis and air-rickshaws powered by electricity etc., to solve the widespread issue of traffic jams.

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