Ahmedabad, Sep 1 (IANS) Ahmedabad has become the third airport in the country after Amritsar and Varanasi to be integrated into India’s hub-and-spoke network for international passenger traffic, with Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu saying the new system would make overseas travel more seamless for passengers from Gujarat.
The international hub-and-spoke flight services were formally launched at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
The initiative has been introduced under the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, with Ahmedabad being brought into the network in view of its international connectivity, large NRI community and the requirements of its business and industrial sectors.
“Under the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the hub-and-spoke model is being started from Ahmedabad with the aim of taking India’s civil aviation sector to new heights globally,” Ram Mohan Naidu said at the launch.
Explaining the arrangement, the Union Minister said that passengers travelling internationally from Ahmedabad would get more convenient connectivity via Delhi to around 15 international destinations.
A key feature of the system is that baggage checking and immigration procedures can be completed at Ahmedabad before passengers board connecting flights.
This, Ram Mohan Naidu said, would remove the inconvenience faced by passengers while changing flights at Delhi and make international travel “more seamless”.
The hub-and-spoke model allows passengers from smaller cities, referred to as spokes, to travel through larger central airports, or hubs, for onward international connections.
Under the new arrangement, baggage, customs and immigration-related procedures are completed at the initial airport, reducing the need for passengers to undergo the same processes again at the connecting hub.
Automated baggage transfer is also intended to save passengers time and lower airlines’ operating costs.
Union Civil Minister said India’s civil aviation infrastructure had expanded substantially, noting that the country had 74 airports in 2014 compared with more than 160 at present.
“The government plans to develop another 100 airports over the next decade while expanding the UDAN regional connectivity scheme,” he added.
He also said that Ahmedabad’s growing air connectivity would support sectors such as hospitality, tourism, textiles, pharmaceuticals, diamonds and gems, engineering, semiconductors and manufacturing.
“Passenger-focused initiatives including the ‘UDAN Yatri Cafe’, an airport library and digital boarding passes were also being introduced to improve the airport experience,” Ram Mohan Naidu added.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said policy reforms in aviation infrastructure and the MRO sector were helping India move towards becoming a global aviation hub.
Civil Aviation Secretary Sameer Sinha said that Ahmedabad’s inclusion, following Varanasi and Amritsar, marked the expansion of the seamless connectivity network and described the model as a framework benefiting passengers, airlines and airports.
–IANS
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