Lok Sabha Question No. 1419 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-15
Subject: Increase in Air Travel
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: Vishnu Dayal Ram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION Lok Sabha

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 1419 ( TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  15th December 2022 )

## INCREASE IN AIR TRAVEL

## 1419.    SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM

## Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the number of air travellers has increased in recent years and if so, the details thereof; (b) the details of the increase of rate of air travel in the financial year 2021-2022 over financial year 2020-21; (c)  the  details  of  initiatives  undertaken  by  the  Government  to  mitigate  the  impact  of  increased  air travel; and (d) whether the expansion of air travel under UDAN has any impact on India's goal of achieving net

- zero carbon emissions and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION      (GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD))

(a) to (b) During 2019-20, all Indian airports across the country handled 275 million passenger traffic. Due to the adverse effect of COVID-19 on aviation industry worldwide, the passenger traffic in India decreased to 105 million during 2020-21. The details of domestic passenger traffic since 2020-21 to October 2022 is attached at Annexure I. The air travel has increased by approximately 58.5 percent in the financial year 2021-22 over the financial year 2020-21.

(c) to (d) Ministry of Civil Aviation launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) on 21-10-2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable for the masses. The UDAN scheme envisages providing connectivity to unserved and underserved airports of the country through revival of the existing airstrips and airports. UDAN is a demand-driven scheme, wherein airline operators assess the feasibility of operation on a particular route and bid under the scheme from time to time.

Selection of airlines is done through a transparent bidding process. As on 30.11.2022, after four rounds of bidding under UDAN, 453 routes have commenced, operationalizing 70 Airports including 2 Water Aerodrome  &  9  Heliports.  More  than  2.15  lakh  UDAN  flights  have  operated  and  over  1.1  crore passengers have availed the benefits in UDAN flights so far. The scheme has been able to provide air connectivity to Tier-2 &Tier-3 cities at affordable airfares and has transformed the way people travel.

DGCA    is  compiling  CO2  emissions  data  based  on  the  data  received  from  scheduled  domestic operators.  The  trend  of  last  five  years  indicating  the  CO2  emissions  based  on  data  available  with DGCA is attched at ANNEXURE II.

- ******

## ANNEXURE IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1419 FOR ANSWER ON 15.12.2022

## YEARWISE DETAILS OF DOMESTIC PASSENGER TRAFFIC

| Financial year         |   Domestic Passengers (in million) |   Percentage growth (%) |
|------------------------|------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| 2020-21                |                                105 |                   -61.7 |
| 2021-22                |                                167 |                    58.5 |
| 2022-23 (upto October) |                                147 |                    96.5 |

Source: Airports Authority of India

Note: The percentage change for the financial year 2022-23 (upto October 2022) has been calculated based on the corresponding figure of the previous financial year.

## Annexure -II

## Annexure in reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1419 due for answer on 15.12.2022

## Trend of CO2 Emissions from Indian Aviation Sector

|                                                                        | CO2 Emission in 000 tons (Provisional)   | CO2 Emission in 000 tons (Provisional)   | CO2 Emission in 000 tons (Provisional)   | CO2 Emission in 000 tons (Provisional)   | CO2 Emission in 000 tons (Provisional)   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
|                                                                        | 2017                                     | 2018                                     | 2019                                     | 2020                                     | 2021                                     |
| Indian scheduled passenger airlines to/from domestic destinations      | 11,219                                   | 12,307                                   | 11,843                                   | 6,023                                    | 7,626                                    |
| Percentage (Increase or Decrease in emissions)                         | 19%                                      | 10%                                      | -4%                                      | -49%                                     | 27%                                      |
| Indian scheduled passenger airlines to/from international destinations | 7,853                                    | 8,441                                    | 7,057                                    | 3,194                                    | 3,549                                    |
| Percentage (Increase or Decrease in emissions)                         | 13%                                      | 7%                                       | -16%                                     | -55%                                     | 11%                                      |

(Source - Directorate General of Civil Aviation).