43.Aviation

With a growth rate of 18 per cent per annum, the Indian aviation industry is one of the fastest growing aviation industries in the world. The government's open sky policy has lead to many overseas players entering the market and the industry has been growing both in terms of players and number of aircrafts. The sector is slated to cruise far ahead of other Asian giants like China or even strong economies like France and Australia. The number of passengers who will be airborne by 2020 is a whopping 400 million."

With the liberalisation of the Indian aviation sector, the aviation industry in India has undergone a rapid transformation. From being primarily a government-owned industry, the Indian aviation industry is now dominated by privately owned full-service airlines and low-cost carriers. Private airlines account for around 75 per cent share of the domestic aviation market.Indian carriers currently have a fleet size of 310 aircrafts, but have 480 aircrafts on order, scheduled for delivery by 2012.

Earlier, air travel was a privilege only a few could afford, but today air travel has become much cheaper and can be afforded by a large number of people. Furthermore, the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) crashed drastically in December 2008, hitting US$ 0.665- US$ 0.789, which is its lowest level since the last four to five years. With this move, airlines are likely to prune their airfares considerably.

Jet Airways, the country's largest private carrier, has slashed domestic fares by 40 per cent and national carrier Air India has announced that it will cut basic fares anywhere between 45 per cent and 60 per cent in February 2009 following a drop in ATF prices.India has jumped to 9th position in world's aviation market from 12th in 2006. The scheduled domestic air services are now available from 82 airports as against 75 in 2006. Further, Kapil Kaul, CEO India & Middle East, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, has said, "India's civil aviation passenger growth, at 20 per cent, is among the highest in the world.