NEW DELHI: As the number of passengers doubles from 200 million to 400 million over the next seven to ten years, there are enormous growth potential for airlines, said Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, on Tuesday.

Addressing an ASSOCHAM event on CEOs' Roundtable discussion, the Civil Aviation Minister said that aviation is competing closely with the railways in the air-conditioned segment.

The Minister stated that "in the next five to ten years, civil aviation will carry the bulwark of transportation for this limited section." "Today, the railways carry 125 million passengers in first and second AC, while airlines on the other hand carried 144 million domestic travellers before the pandemic," the Minister said.

The Union Minister said that although civil aviation is increasing at 10.3 percnet CAGR, railroads are rising at 5.6 percent CAGR.

Speaking of the expansion, Scindia said that the fleet now comprises over 700 aircraft, up from a size of about 400 in 2013–2014. And in the following five years, it might reach 1,200.

"In 2013–2014, there were only 74 airports; 67 have been added merely in the last eight years. Regional airports will contribute significantly to future growth; metro airport growth between 2010 and 2015 was about  7.8 percent and has maintained in that range. From 2010 to 2015, non-metro airport growth grew from 10.8 percent to 31 percent at the moment. To support speedier industry expansion, the government is always working to implement new policies and remove barriers.

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