Airports Council International (ACI) World, the trade association of the world’s airports, recently called for immediate action to help nations and communities meet the challenges resulting from rapid growth in the demand for air services.
India will become the third largest passenger aviation market by 2021, according to ACI forecasts. This will result in the need to accommodate 429 million passengers annually.
By 2021, India will become the seventh largest cargo aviation market, handling 4.4 million metric tons of cargo annually, ACI predicted.
To meet this demand, policymakers and regulators must provide a proportionate, clear and consistent regulatory framework to facilitate successful private investment, ACI said. This framework should further the processes of privatization of airports.
“The scale of current and forecast demand at Indian airports requires significant investment to maintain and enhance infrastructure as well as passenger service capacity at an appropriate level of quality,” Angela Gittens, ACI World director general, said at the International Aviation Summit in Delhi. “The traveling public`s expectations for the airport customer experience continues to increase as airports globally have raised their performance levels in this regard.”
Partnerships between public and private organizations are a valid option to increase the quality of service for passengers, Gittens said.