The Indian aviation sector reached the average pre-Covid level in December 2022, said the Economic Survey for 2022-23, tabled in Parliament on January 31.
The total number of passengers carried in December 2022 stood at 150.1 lakh, which was 6.4 percent higher than the pre-Covid average for 11 months from April 2019 to February 2020, the Survey said. In November 2022, total air cargo tonnage stood at 2.5 lakh tonnes, which was 89 percent of the pre-Covid levels.
The Survey reviews how the economy performed in this fiscal year and the road ahead for the next year.
The Survey said the civil aviation market has great potential due to the growing demand from the middle class, growth in population and tourism. It added that higher disposable incomes, favourable demographics, and greater penetration of aviation infrastructure will help grow the market in India.
It added that the government's regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude-Desh-Ka-Aam-Nagrik) has considerably enhanced regional
connectivity through the opening of airports in India’s hinterland.
The Survey said that the government has approved a Budget of Rs 4,500 crore for the revival of existing airports in the country, which will help improve aviation infrastructure facilities in the country and boost the sector.
The government has also accorded 'in-principle' approval for the
setting up of 21 greenfield airports across the country, the Survey said. It also makes a mention that the total number of regional connectivity air routes has increased to 59, out of which 51 are operational.
An amount of Rs 104.19 core has already been reimbursed to the Airport Authority of India in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) during FY 2020-21 and FY 2021-22.
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