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Spotlight
FE roundtable identifies efficient airspace management as the need of the hour
Andrea Lopez - Mumbai
The Financial Express roundtable conference titled, Aviation Skies Ahead held
in Mumbai brought together stalwarts from the aviation industry on a common
platform to discuss the future of the aviation industry in India, as well as
highlight means to cope with the seemingly persistent problems of pilot shortage,
congestion at airports and soaring fuel prices. Kapil Kaul, CEO for CAPA (Centre
for Asia Pacific Aviation) said, "The aviation sector has seen a runaway
growth. We can expect domestic traffic in aviation to grow by 35 per cent and
international traffic to climb to 16 per cent in the next three years. Airports
will need to be equipped to handle 100 million passengers. Moreover with air
travel becoming increasingly affordable and aspirational, we can only prepare
ourselves for what is to come. "
The general growth in aviation, including helicopter and cargo requires efficient
management of airspace as well as more skilled air traffic controllers to man
the ATC towers. One issue that came to the fore was whether private operators
were making adequate arrangements in terms of manpower to meet its fleet expansion
plans. Saroj Dutta, executive director, Jet Airways said that his airline, that
relies on expatriate pilots is in the process of setting up a training academy
to meet its manpower demands and is looking at setting up a training school
abroad as well. As far as improving communication between air traffic controllers
and pilots goes, IATA is in the process of working out a policy that will put
a lid on potential safety hazards.
"There has been a paradigm shift in aviation in the country. However out
of the 127 airports in the country, only 85 are operational. We need to prepare
ourselves for the quantum leap by harnessing whatever we have, including the
development of non-metro and regional airports. The Delhi and Bangalore airports
are already on their way to being completed," said Kaul.
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