The minister for civil aviation, Shri Praful Patel informed the Lok Sabah today that the domestic passenger growth has declined to negative 1.94% during the period January to October, 2008 as compared to growth of 46.5% & 32.5% in the full calendar year 2006 & 2007 respectively.
Passengers carried by domestic airlines from January to October, 2008 were 346.81 lakhs against 353.67 lakhs in the corresponding period of 2007. Domestic Airlines carried 31.80 lakhs passengers in the month of October, 2008 as compare to 36.01 lakhs in the month of October, 2007. Aviation Sector was first greatly affected due to rise in fuel prices. Thereafter the slowdown of the global economy has caused decline of aviation sector growth. The decline in Indian aviation growth is not due to lack of infrastructure since there is adequate capacity at Indian airports to handle the existing demand. To meet the challenges of slowdown in the aviation industry, the Government has taken various steps which inter-alia are as under:
1. Custom duty on imports at ATF has been abolished.
2. The State Government has been persuaded to reduce the sales tax on ATF.
Government of Andhra Pradesh and in certain cases Government of Rajasthan has reduced the sales tax on ATF to 4%. Government of Maharashtra has also reduced sales tax on ATF from 25% to 4% for flights originating from airports other than Pune & Mumbai.
3. The oil companies have also staggered the dues of airlines companies over six months.
4. With fall in the Global crude prices, the oil companies have been reducing ATF prices since September, 2008.
5. The infrastructure at the airports & Air Traffic Control & Navigation is being constantly upgraded to meet the future demand of the airlines.
Questions :
1. Discus the various environmental force under which Indian Civil Aviation Industry operates?
2. What are the problems faced by aviation industry? What can be done to overcome these problems?
