66 airports added to aid regional links: Minister

Stating that regional air connectivity is rapidly increasing in the country and the aviation sector is registering an 11 per cent growth vis-à-vis 5.6 per cent of the railways, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday informed the Lok Sabha that till 2014, there were 74 airports in the country while in the last seven years 66 new airports were added taking the total number to 140.

“Our resolve is to take this number of airports to 220 by 2025,” said Scindia replying to the Demands for Grants, 2022-23, for the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the lower house.

Scindia said the Indian civil aviation sector is the third largest in the world and 15 per cent of its pilots are women.