Centre now has bilateral air services pacts with 116 foreign nations: Minister

New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) In a bid to boost global connectivity and strengthen economic growth, the government has signed bilateral air services agreements (ASAs) with 116 foreign nations to date.

According to Murlidhar Mohol, Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the move will facilitate the smooth operation of international flights between India and these nations. The Centre has designated cities, rather than states, to streamline international flight operations and support a more structured approach to global air connectivity.

These are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Gorakhpur, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Khajuraho, Kolkata, Lucknow, Madurai, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Port Blair, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Varanasi and Visakhapatnam.

The Centre has also formulated the National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016 to provide a conducive ecosystem for the overall growth of the Indian Aviation Sector, which involves infrastructure development of airports through Greenfield projects as well as under the UDAN scheme.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's aviation sector has become one of the world's fastest-growing civil aviation markets, with domestic air passenger traffic touching a record high.

The government's focus on the aviation sector has led to a considerable increase in the number of airports in the country. The number of airports in the country has increased to 157 from 74 in the last 10 years. The ministry recently reviewed the full list of 453 airstrips in the country and around 157 of them are operational.

According to the ministry, over 91 lakh passengers availed Digi Yatra facility, and more than 35 lakh people downloaded the app last year.

Mohol said that over the past decade, the ministry has significantly enhanced facilities across various sectors, boosting employment and rapidly increasing the number of airports. Further, there is no shortage of pilots or crews in the Indian aviation sector.

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