Lok Sabha Question No. 211 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-20
Subject: Rise in Domestic Air Fare
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Vinayak Bhaurao Raut, Jadon Chandra Sen, Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav, Sanghamitra Maurya, Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pawan Rajenimbalkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION

## Lok Sabha

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 211

( TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  20th July 2023 )

## RISE IN DOMESTIC AIR FARE

## 211.    SHRI ARVIND GANPAT  SAWANT

SHRI VINAYAK RAUT

DR. CHANDRA SEN JADON

SHRI SANJAY JADHAV

DR. SANGHMITRA MAURYA

SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH ALIAS

PAWAN RAJENIMBALKAR

Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

## be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether the number of domestic air passengers is rising steadily;
- (b)  if  so,  the  number of airports constructed in the country since the year  2010  including  the  place-wise  and  State-wise  details  thereof particularly Maharashtra;
- (c)  the number of airports operating and the number of airports lying unused at present out of those constructed including the reasons for their non-utilisation;
- (d)  whether  facilities  at  several  airports  in  the  country  are  underutilised because the private airlines are not permitted to operate from the said airports;
- (e) the list of the airlines which have expressed their intent to operate from various airports in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh;
- (f)  the  reasons for not permitting the private airlines to operate from the said airports;
- (g) the crieteria prescribed by the Government to extend the requisite permissions to the airlines;
- (h)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  permit  Private  Airlines  to operate wide body air craft from K.I.A.L.; and
- (i) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION      (GEN.

(DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD))

- (a):  The details of  domestic air passengers travelled from 2018-19 to 2022-23 are at Annexure-I.;
- (b)    The  State-wise  list  of  Airports  operationalised  under  UDAN  (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) including Maharashtra is placed at Annexure-II. ; ;
- (c)  :  Operationalisation  of  an  airport  depends  upon  air  passenger demand  forecast,  demand  from  airlines,  financial  and  operational viability, as well as other facilities with reference to intended aircraft operations. Airlines plan their flight schedule on a specific route/city based  on  market  demand,  commercial  feasibility  and  their  company policy  on  which  the  Ministry  has  no  jurisdiction.  The  List  of  Airports operationalised under UDAN where there are no scheduled operations at present is placed at Annexure-III. ;
- (d)  to  (i)  :  At  present  Indigo,  Air  India,  Akasa  Air,  Air  Asia  India, SpiceJet, Vistara, Star Air and Alliance Air are operating in Maharashtra  and  Indigo,  Akasa  Air,  Alliance  Air,  Air  India,  Air  Asia India, Spicejet and Vistara are operating in Uttar Pradesh.

;

The  request  of  Airlines  for  operating  flight  services  from  Airports  is accommodated within the available watch hours and Airport capacity. With  the  repeal  of  the  Air  Corporation  Act  in  March  1994,  the  Indian domestic aviation market has been deregulated. Consequently, airlines are free to induct capacity with any aircraft type for selecting whatever  markets  and  network  they  wish  to  operate  across  the country. Thus, it is up to the airlines to provide air services to specific places  depending  upon  the  traffic  demand  and  their  commercial viability, in compliance with the relevant guidelines in this matter. The Government provides an enabling environment for growth of civil aviation sector but does not interfere in the operational plans of the airlines.  International  flight  operations  are  governed  by  the  bilateral Air  Services  Agreement  (ASA)  between  India  and  the  respective countries. Operation of international flights from any point in India is purely a commercial decision of the airlines on the basis of economic viability of the route and other associated factors. ;; Kannur  International  Airport has  the  requisite infrastructure like runway,  Taxi  way,  parking  bay  and  the  Terminal  Building  to  handle Wide Body aircraft.

- ******

Annexure-I Total  number  of  passengers  carried  by  Scheduled  Indian  Carriers  for  their

| Financial Year       | Passengers carried ( In Numbers)   | Growth rate (%)   |
|----------------------|------------------------------------|-------------------|
| 2018-19              | 140,333,572                        | -                 |
| 2019-20              | 141,202,237                        | 0.62              |
| 2020-21              | 53,330,502                         | -62.23            |
| 2021-22              | 84,184,459                         | 57.85             |
| 2022-23(Provisional) | 136,028,656                        | 61.58             |

Scheduled Domestic Operations

## List of 74 RCS Airports operationalized

## (Total 74 Nos. including 19 Underserved and 55 Unserved airports)

|   S No. | State             | Airport                                        | Owner                      | Date of Operationalisation   |
|---------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------------|
|       1 | Andhra Pradesh    | Kadapa (Underserved)(Round-1)                  | AAI                        | 27-April-2017                |
|       2 |                   | Kurnool (Unserved) (Round-3)                   | AP Airports Dev. Corp. Ltd | 28-march 2021                |
|       3 | Assam             | Jorhat (Underserved)(Round-2)                  | IAF(CE-AAI)                | 1-Aug-2018                   |
|       4 |                   | Lilabari (Underserved)(Round-2)                | AAI                        | 15-Jan-2019                  |
|       5 |                   | Tezpur (Underserved)(Round-2)                  | IAF(CE-AAI)                | 26-April-2018                |
|       6 |                   | Rupsi (Unserved) (Round-2)                     | AAI                        | 8-may 2021                   |
|       7 | Arunachal Pradesh | Tezu (Unserved) (Round-2)                      | AAI                        | 15 August 2021               |
|       8 |                   | Passighat (Unserved) (Round-2)                 | IAF                        | 24-May 2021                  |
|       9 |                   | Hollongi (Unserved) (Round-4.3)                | AAI                        | 15-Jan-2023                  |
|      10 | Bihar             | Darbhanga (Unserved) (Round-2)                 | IAF(CE-AAI)                | 08-Nov-2020                  |
|      11 | Chhattisgarh      | Jagdalpur (Unserved) (Round-1)                 | State Govt.                | 14-June-2018                 |
|      12 |                   | Bilaspur (Unserved) (Round-1)                  | State Govt.                | 1-March-2021                 |
|      13 | Daman& Diu        | Diu (Underserved)(Round-1)                     | AAI                        | 24-Feb-2018                  |
|      14 | Gujarat           | Bhavnagar (Underserved)(Round-1)               | AAI                        | 1-May-2018                   |
|      15 |                   | Jamnagar (Underserved)(Round-1)                | IAF (CE-AAI)               | 17-Feb-2018                  |
|      16 |                   | Kandla (Unserved) (Round-1)                    | AAI                        | 1-July-2017                  |
|      17 |                   | Keshod (Unserved) (Round-2)                    | AAI                        | 16-Apr-2022                  |
|      18 |                   | Mundra (Unserved) (Round-1)                    | Private                    | 17-Feb-2018                  |
|      19 |                   | Porbandar (Underserved)(Round-1)               | AAI                        | 10-July-2017                 |
|      20 |                   | Statue of Unity (W) (Unserved) (Round-3)       | State Govt.                | 31-Oct-2020                  |
|      21 |                   | Sabarmati River Front (W) (Unserved) (Round-3) | State Govt.                | 31-Oct-2020                  |
|      22 | Haryana           | Hissar (Unserved) (Round-2)                    | State Govt.                | 14-Jan-2021                  |
|      23 | Himachal Pradesh  | Shimla (Unserved) (Round-1)                    | AAI                        | 27-April-2017                |
|      24 |                   | Kullu (Underserved)                            | AAI                        | 13-May-2019                  |
|      25 |                   | Mandi - Heliport (Unserved) (Round- 2)         | State Govt.                | 09-Dec-2021                  |
|      26 |                   | Rampur - Heliport (Unserved) (Round-2)         | State Govt.                | 14-Dec-2021                  |
|      27 | Jharkhand         | Deoghar (Unserved) (Round-4.1)                 | AAI-Jharkhand (JV)         | 12-July-2022                 |
|      28 |                   | Jamshedpur (Unserved) (Round-1)                | TATA Steel Ltd.            | 31-Jan-2023                  |
|      29 | Karnataka         | Belgaum (Underserved)(Round-3)                 | AAI                        | 1-May-2019                   |
|      30 |                   | Hubli (Underserved)(Round-2)                   | AAI                        | 14-May-2018                  |
|      31 |                   | Mysore (Unserved) (Round-1)                    | AAI                        | 2-Sep-2017                   |
|      32 |                   | Vidyanagar (Unserved) (Round-1)                | Private                    | 21-Sep-2017                  |
|      33 |                   | Kalaburgi (Gulbarga) (Unserved) (Round-3)      | State Govt.                | 22-Nov-2019                  |
|      34 |                   | Bidar (Unserved) (Round-1)                     | IAF(CE-SG)                 | 07-Feb-2020                  |

|   S No. | State            | Airport                                       | Owner          | Date of Operationalisation   |
|---------|------------------|-----------------------------------------------|----------------|------------------------------|
|      35 | Kerala           | Kannur (Unserved) (Round-2)                   | Private (KIAL) | 25-Jan-2019                  |
|      36 | Madhya Pradesh   | Gwalior (Underserved)(Round-1)                | IAF (CE-AAI)   | 31-May-2017                  |
|      37 | Maharashtra      | Gondia (Unserved) (Round-4)                   | AAI            | 13-March-2022                |
|      38 |                  | Jalgaon (Unserved) (Round-1)                  | AAI            | 23-Dec-2017                  |
|      39 |                  | Kolhapur (Unserved) (Round-1)                 | AAI            | 8-April-2018                 |
|      40 |                  | Nanded (Unserved) (Round-1)                   | MIDC           | 27-April-2017                |
|      41 |                  | Ozar (Nasik) (Unserved) (Round-1)             | HAL            | 23-Dec-2017                  |
|      42 |                  | Sindhudurg (Unserved) (Round-3)               | State Govt.    | 9-October -2021              |
|      43 | Meghalaya        | Shillong (Underserved)(Round-1)               | AAI            | 26-April-2018                |
|      44 | Nagaland         | Dimapur (Underserved)(Round-3)                | AAI            | 07-Dec-2019                  |
|      45 | Odisha           | Jharsuguda (Unserved) (Round-1)               | AAI            | 22-Sep-2018                  |
|      46 |                  | Jeypore (Unserved) (Round-1)                  | State Govt.    | 03-Aug-2022                  |
|      47 |                  | Rourkela (Unserved) (Round-1)                 | SAIL           | 07-Jan-2023                  |
|      48 | Pondicherry (UT) | Pondicherry (Underserved)(Round-1)            | AAI            | 16-Aug-2017                  |
|      49 | Punjab           | Adampur (Unserved) (Round-1)                  | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 1-May-2018                   |
|      50 |                  | Bhatinda (Unserved) (Round-1)                 | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 27-April-2017                |
|      51 |                  | Ludhiana (Unserved) (Round-1)                 | AAI            | 2-Sep-2017                   |
|      52 |                  | Pathankot (Unserved) (Round-1)                | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 5-April-2018                 |
|      53 | Rajasthan        | Bikaner (Unserved) (Round-1)                  | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 26-Sep-2017                  |
|      54 |                  | Jaisalmer (Unserved) (Round-1)                | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 29-Oct-2017                  |
|      55 |                  | Kishangarh (Unserved) (Round-2)               | AAI            | 8-Oct-2018                   |
|      56 | Sikkim           | Pakyong (Unserved) (Round-2)                  | AAI            | 4-Oct-2018                   |
|      57 | Tamil Nadu       | Salem (Unserved) (Round-1)                    | AAI            | 25-Mar-2018                  |
|      58 | Uttar Pradesh    | Agra (Underserved)(Round-1)                   | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 8-Dec-2017                   |
|      59 |                  | Allahabad (Underserved)(Round-2)              | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 14-June-2018                 |
|      60 |                  | Kanpur(Chakeri) (Unserved) (Round- 1)         | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 3-July-2018                  |
|      61 |                  | Hindon (Unserved) (Round-2)                   | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 11-Oct-2019                  |
|      62 |                  | Bareilly (Unserved) (Round-2)                 | IAF(CE-AAI)    | 08-Mar-2021                  |
|      63 |                  | Kushinagar (Unserved) (Round-3)               | AAI            | 26-Nov-2021                  |
|      64 | Uttarakhand      | Pantnagar (Underserved)(Round-1)              | AAI            | 4-Jan-2019                   |
|      65 |                  | Pithoragarh (Unserved) (Round-2)              | State Govt.    | 17-Jan-2019                  |
|      66 |                  | Sahastradhara - Heliport (Unserved) (Round-2) | State Govt.    | 08-Feb-2020                  |
|      67 |                  | Chinyalisaur - Heliport (Unserved) (Round-2)  | State Govt.    | 08-Feb-2020                  |
|      68 |                  | Gaucher - Heliport (Unserved) (Round-2)       | State Govt.    | 08-Feb-2020                  |
|      69 |                  | New Tehri - Heliport (Unserved) (Round-2)     | State Govt.    | 29-July-2020                 |
|      70 |                  | Srinagar - Heliport (Unserved) (Round-2)      | State Govt.    | 29-July-2020                 |

|   S No. | State       | Airport                                  | Owner       | Date of Operationalisation   |
|---------|-------------|------------------------------------------|-------------|------------------------------|
|      71 |             | Haldwani - Heliport (Unserved) (Round-2) | State Govt. | 8-Oct-2021                   |
|      72 |             | Almora - Heliport (Unserved) (Round- 2)  | Army        | 26-Aug-2022                  |
|      73 | West Bengal | Cooch Behar (Unserved)(Round-1)          |             | 21-Feb-2023                  |
|      74 |             | Durgapur(Underserved)(Round-1)           | Private     | 25-June-2019                 |

List of Airports lying unused as on 30.06.2023

|   S. No. | State         | Airport                  |
|----------|---------------|--------------------------|
|        1 | Gujarat       | Porbandar                |
|        2 | Gujarat       | Mundra                   |
|        3 | Gujarat       | Sabarmati River Front(W) |
|        4 | Gujarat       | Statue of Unity (W)      |
|        5 | Haryana       | Hissar                   |
|        6 | Maharashtra   | Jalgaon                  |
|        7 | Maharashtra   | Nanded                   |
|        8 | Maharashtra   | Gondia                   |
|        9 | Punjab        | Ludhiana                 |
|       10 | Punjab        | Adampur                  |
|       11 | Punjab        | Bhatinda                 |
|       12 | Punjab        | Pathankot                |
|       13 | Tamil Nadu    | Salem                    |
|       14 | Uttar Pradesh | Hindon                   |
|       15 | Uttarakhand   | Pithoragarh              |
|       16 | Uttarakhand   | Almora(H)                |

Annexure-III