The first flight took off from Karachi to Delhi in the year 1912.This flight was operated by UK based Imperial Airways.Three years later Tata sons and ltd. started a regular airmail service between Karachi and Madras without any backing from the government.
During the period of independence there were nine air transport companies ferrying passengers and cargo.In 1948 the Indian govt. and Air India set up a new venture Air India International to strengthen the aviation sector in India.The nationalization policy in 1953 brought all the airlines under the purview of the government
leading to the domination of government owned airlines till mid 1990.
Then in the year 1990 came a breath of fresh air for the aviation industry in India with the adoption of Open-Sky policy by the govt.This motivated several private players to step into the glamourous business of owning an airline.This was the beginning of a new era in air travel in India.Many new airlines started services.Naresh Goyal promoted Jet Airways came up in 1992 and dominated the markets along with Indian Airlines.The new millennium saw the greatest growth in the industry with many airlines coming up and passengers travelling more frequently by air.
India reported highest growth figures for air travel.Air Deccan in the year 2003 introduced the concept of low cost airlines in India.Dr. Vijay Mallya owned Kingfisher Airlines entered into the business and offered a new level of comfort to passengers.Following persuit Indigo airlines and Spicejet emerged as low cost airlines and offered revolutionary fares attracting passengers in huge numbers.
There has been a constant rise in the number of people travelling by air in India.There are new airports coming up and the existing ones undergoing rapid renovation in order to catch up with the ever increasing air traffic.
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai and Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi are the two prime airports in India and are gateways to India for people coming from abroad.These two airports handle more than half the air traffic in South Asia.
Aviation Industry has opened up new job opportunities for people.Pilots,Cabin Crew,Ground ops,Airport Management,Aircraft maintainence engineering are the new fields that have grown and have attracted interest from Indians.
This industry has been glamourous since its inception and continues to attract everyone.Though there are many barriers to growth in present day times which are a setback to this high end industry it continues to attract more and more people to experience it.The main reason for its constant growth is that everyone dreams to fly someday.
If the barriers are removed this industry will be a bliss for the Indian economy and contribute highly to the GDP.
RUCHA MODI
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