{"id":50455,"date":"2025-08-05T19:07:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T13:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=50455"},"modified":"2025-08-06T13:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T07:43:13","slug":"india-emerges-world-5th-biggest-aviation-market-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/05-08-2025\/india-emerges-world-5th-biggest-aviation-market-2024","title":{"rendered":"India Emerges as World\u2019s 5th Biggest Aviation Market in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India has become the<strong> world\u2019s fifth-largest aviation market,<\/strong> handling <strong>211 million <\/strong>passengers in 2024, as per the latest <strong>World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) <\/strong>released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Findings of the Report<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to IATA, India saw a growth of 11.1 per cent compared to 2023, ahead of Japan, which handled <strong>205 million<\/strong> passengers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The US remains the world\u2019s biggest aviation market<\/strong> with <strong>876 million<\/strong> passengers in 2024, growing <strong>5.2 percent <\/strong>year-on-year.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>China was the second-biggest<\/strong> passenger market, with <strong>741 million <\/strong>passengers, a growth of 18.7 per cent compared to 2023.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>While the UK was at the <strong>3rd spot <\/strong>with <strong>261 million<\/strong> passengers, <strong>Spain<\/strong> stood at the <strong>4th position with 241 million.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The figures include all international and domestic passengers departing or arriving in each country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Airport Pair Ranking:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Asia-Pacific dominated<\/strong> the busiest airport-pair rankings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jeju\u2013Seoul (South Korea) <\/strong>was the busiest route globally with <strong>13.2 million <\/strong>passengers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mumbai\u2013Delhi ranked 7th<\/strong> globally with 5.9 million passengers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Pillars of Aviation Transformation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Legislative Reforms for Systemic Change:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Protection of Interest in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2025 <\/strong>aligns India\u2019s aircraft leasing system with the<strong> Cape Town Convention,<\/strong> reducing leasing costs and improving investor confidence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024:<\/strong> Replaces the colonial-era Aircraft Act, 1934. It encourages Make in India, simplifies licensing, and aligns regulations with global standards like the Chicago Convention and ICAO norms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Infrastructure Expansion and Capacity Building:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Terminal Upgrades:<\/strong> Foundation laid for new terminals at Varanasi, Agra, Darbhanga, and Bagdogra.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Greenfield Airports: <\/strong>12 operationalised since 2014 (e.g., Shirdi, Mopa, Shivamogga), with Navi Mumbai and Noida (Jewar) to be operational by early 2025\u201326.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CAPEX Investment:<\/strong> \u20b991,000 crore allocated under National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP); \u20b982,600 crore spent by Nov 2024.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"b7bfcd\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"502\" height=\"478\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Infrastructure-Expansion.png\" alt=\"Infrastructure Expansion \" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-50456\" style=\"--dominant-color: #b7bfcd; width:321px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Infrastructure-Expansion.png 502w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Infrastructure-Expansion-300x286.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 502px) 100vw, 502px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives to Support Aviation Sector<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>UDAN Scheme: <\/strong>Enhances regional air connectivity by making air travel affordable for common citizens.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP):<\/strong> Promotes MRO, airport development, and aircraft leasing in India.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Green Airports Policy:<\/strong> Encourages use of renewable energy, waste reduction, and carbon-neutral targets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Development of Noida International Airport<\/strong> and expansion of existing metro and non-metro airports.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Aircraft Leasing and Financing Ecosystem:<\/strong> GIFT City is being promoted as a global aircraft leasing hub.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are the Challenges?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Infrastructure bottlenecks:<\/strong> Many major airports are operating at or near capacity, while infrastructure in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities remains underdeveloped.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High cost of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF):<\/strong> Aviation fuel is heavily taxed in India, making airline operations costlier compared to global standards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulatory complexities: <\/strong>Multiple layers of regulation and lack of coordination between central and state authorities hamper ease of doing business in the aviation sector.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Environmental concerns:<\/strong> Rapid expansion of air traffic raises issues of carbon emissions, noise pollution, and ecological impact, demanding greener alternatives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shortage of skilled workforce:<\/strong> The sector faces a growing gap in the availability of trained pilots, engineers, and aviation professionals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Fuel Pricing Reform: <\/strong>Rationalise <strong>Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF)<\/strong> taxes across states to make air travel cost-effective.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sustainability Focus:<\/strong> Encourage <strong>Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), <\/strong>electric aircraft technology, and carbon offsetting mechanisms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Skilling and Training:<\/strong> Expand aviation skill development programs through institutions like the <strong>National Aviation University.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International Hub Strategy:<\/strong> Develop select Indian airports into full-service international hubs competing with Dubai, Doha, and Singapore.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsonair.gov.in\/india-emerges-as-worlds-5th-biggest-aviation-market-in-2024\/#:~:text=India%20has%20emerged%20as%20the,busiest%20airport%20pairs%\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>AIR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India has become the world\u2019s fifth-largest aviation market, handling 211 million passengers in 2024, as per the latest World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).\n<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Key findings of the report<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">According to IATA, India saw a growth of 11.1 per cent compared to 2023, ahead of Japan, which handled 205 million passengers.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The US remains the world\u2019s biggest aviation market with 876 million passengers in 2024, growing 5.2 percent year-on-year.\u00a0\n<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/05-08-2025\/india-emerges-world-5th-biggest-aviation-market-2024\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":50485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/india-emerges-world-5th-biggest-aviation-market-2024.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50455"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50579,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50455\/revisions\/50579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}