Thirty-two airports in the country, built and maintained by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at a considerable cost, are lying completely unused. Six other airports have just a single flight a day, nine have two and six others have three to four flights per day. These statistics has got the government worried and are key to the recent aviation ministry push on increasing air connectivity to smaller towns.
The ministry is set to bring measures that encourage domestic carriers to fly to remote areas that can serviced by turboprop planes. Airlines will have the freedom to choose destinations. The government also plans to set up a fund of around Rs. 400 crore to aid such airlines for the first three years.
“Our only concern is to increase connectivity. We don’t wish to impose anything on airlines,” said a senior aviation ministry official. “The government can (only) provide infrastructure.”
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