Vijay Mallya seeks clarity in aviation policy

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Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya has stressed the need for a clear aviation policy that will help promote healthy investment which has been the “long-felt need” of the industry.

He was presiding over the 63rd annual general body meeting as well as the national conference on advances in thermophysics and heat transfer, organised by the Aeronautical Society of India here. It was Mallya’s last programme as president of AeSI before handing over the post to G.R. Rao.

Mallya emphasized the importance of air transport as one of the major drivers of economic growth and underlined the link between civil aviation and economic activity. Since the last decade, civil aviation had been making rapid strides, he said.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation estimates that every $100 spent on aircraft produced benefits worth $325 for the economy and every 100 additional jobs in air transport produced 610 new jobs.

However, the number of trips per capita in India remained low, at 0.04 compared to 0.25 in Brazil, 0.54 in Malaysia and 0.15 in China.

“Even though the potential is immense, India is facing adverse opposition in financial and operative environments.

In order to realise its true potential, the issues of taxation, user development fee and other inputs need to be addressed,” he said.

The seminar was inaugurated by P.S. Veeraraghavan, director of VSSC.