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Hyderabad: By 2030, the domestic air passengers in India will reach 300 million annually. Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday. The minister said that it was 153 million in 2023, PTI reported.
Speaking at the inaugural session of Wings India 2024, a civil aviation conclave and exhibition here, Scindia said India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last decade, has been a "shining star" on the global firmament of civil aviation.
He said the number of airports and waterdromes will increase to over 200 from the existing 149 in the country.
With 300 million passengers a year in 2030, India's aviation penetration will be at 10-15 per cent and will still be a potential market in the decades to come.
"That is the potential that India holds not only for herself and Asia but for the world. ...even with achieving 300 million domestic passengers by 2030, we will still be one of the most under-penetrated markets across the top 20 in the world. Today, our penetration is roughly about 3 to 4 per cent, which will grow to about 10 to 15 per cent. We still have 85 per cent penetration to go," he said.
He noted that the domestic air passenger traffic witnessed 15 per cent growth (CAGR) while international air passenger traffic was 6.1 per cent in the last decade.
According to Scindia, today, India is the third-largest domestic civil aviation market in the world and the seventh-largest international civil aviation market in the world. If both domestic and international are combined, then India is the fifth largest civil aviation market in the world.