Investment will help India address growing air services capacity crunch
Mumbai, India, 2019-Jan-18 — /Travel PR News/ — Airports Council International (ACI) World today said the Indian government’s move to pursue further private investment in airport development will better enable the country to respond to the growing demand for air services.
The key context for discussion at the Global Aviation Summit in Mumbai – organized by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Government of India, and with the support of ACI World – was that the global demand for air services continues to grow rapidly.
According to ACI World Airport Traffic Forecasts 2018-2040, India is expected to be the second fastest growing country with more than 50 million passengers per annum from 2017-2040 with 6.8% growth.
“In order for India cope with surging demand in air transport, a clear plan for building critical aviation infrastructure is required,” says Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World. “With that in mind, it is good to see that the Indian government has moved to undertake a second phase of privatization.
“Existing airport infrastructure in the country, and in many mature markets worldwide, will not be able to handle the expected growth so substantial investment is required, soon, to allow the aviation industry to meet growing demand.
“ACI’s evidence-based Policy Brief on creating fertile grounds for private investment confirms that airport privatization has proven to be an important generator of value for the passenger in terms of providing for new and improved infrastructure.”
ACI World also said today that private investment was not only an important tool for infrastructure development, it has also proven to provide an increase in the level of service, customer experience, and passenger satisfaction.
“Private investment in airports around the world has proven crucial in improving the customer experience and airports are placing a greater emphasis on this in business planning. This is a highly competitive market and airports understand the importance of benchmarking their service quality performance against the industry.
This understanding has been clearly demonstrated by the increasing use of the ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme, the only passenger-centric global research tool providing objective management information to help airports understand the evolving needs and expectations of passengers throughout the entire journey through an airport.”
India’s development of a clear plan for attracting private capital to build aviation infrastructure and its investments to improve the passenger experience are actions that will improve the competitiveness of the Indian transportation system at the global level.
Notes for editors
1. Airports Council International (ACI), the trade association of the world’s airports, was founded in 1991 with the objective of fostering cooperation among its member airports and other partners in world aviation, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Air Transport Association and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization. In representing the best interests of airports during key phases of policy development, ACI makes a significant contribution toward ensuring a global air transport system that is safe, secure, efficient and environmentally sustainable. As of January 2018, ACI serves 641 members operating 1953 airports in 176 countries.
2. Global traffic surpassed the 8.2 billion passenger mark in 2017 and the World Airport Traffic Forecast 2018-2040 projects that it is expected to double by 2034 based on a projected growth rate of 4.3% per annum. From 2017 to 2040, air cargo volumes and aircraft movements are forecast to increase at annualized rates of 2.4% and 2.0% respectively. Air cargo, following on its surge in the latter half of 2016 and into 2017, will continue to rise at rates averaging 4.2% worldwide over the next two years.
3. According to the Air Transport Action Group, Air transport supports 30.2 million jobs and $684 billion in Asia-Pacific economic activity. That is 1.6% of all employment and 2.7% of all GDP in Asia-Pacific countries in 2016.
4. The ACI ASQ programme is the world-renowned and globally established global benchmarking programme measuring passengers’ satisfaction whilst they are travelling through an airport.
Media contacts:
Hicham Ayoun
Manager, Communications
ACI World
Telephone: +1 514 373 1223
Email: mediarelations@aci.aero
Anita Berthier
Manager, External Relations and Special Events
ACI World
Telephone: +1 514 373 1254
Email: mediarelations@aci.aero
Source: ACI