Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday that airplanes were no longer seen as the mode of travel for the rich alone.
“At one time, the aviation sector was looked upon as being relevant only for the affluent sections of our population,” he said while inaugurating the new international
terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram airport here. “With the growth of low- cost air travel, the airlines are now giving strong competition to the railways and many passengers who earlier used to travel only by trains today frequently use flights.”
Dr Singh added that his government understood the importance of the civil aviation sector to the Indian economy and was fast modernising existing airports to create world-class air infrastructure.
“I am told the projected growth of India’s aviation sector has a potential to absorb investment of over $120 billion with attendant job creation for lakhs of workers directly and indirectly,” he said.
Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, Union civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also attended the inaugural function.
Earlier, inaugurating the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Keralakaumudi newspaper, Dr Singh said that journalists were the conscience keepers of society who pointed out the mistakes of governments.
The Prime Minister added that journalists should not only report developments in an unbiased manner, but should also pursue truth with diligence.
“A good journalist should have accuracy and fairness,” he said.
“Fairness is not merely absence of bias but bearing in mind that truth often lies somewhere between ex-treme positions,” he said.