NEW DELHI: Direct flight routes by making hitherto restricted airspace available to commercial airlines, which will lead to savings of about Rs 1,000 crore annually in operating cost for airlines, was among three major announcements made by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for India’s critically ill aviation sector on Saturday.
The other two are six more Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports will be handed over for being run in public-private partnership and aircraft maintenance centres will be facilitated in India.
She said, “Only 60% of Indian airspace is freely available. Restrictions on (its) utilisation will be eased so that civilian flying becomes more efficient. This will bring a benefit of about Rs 1,000 crore per year for the aviation sector through lower fuel burn and crew cost by way of reduction in flying time.”
