Industry
Review
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for Jewar Airport or Noida International Airport in November 2021 in presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
Looking back at India’s Civil Aviation industry in 2021
Amid relief, expectations, corona variant fluctuation, new schemes, changes in the leadership, shifts in the airlines’ ecosystem, 2021 has been an active year for the Indian aviation industry
by Ayushee Chaudhary
PHOTOGRAPH: PIB
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olting through the pandemic hits, the aviation industry has been pacing up with unparalleled occurrences for about two years now. The new variants of the novel coronavirus that keep surfacing have not let relief to stay long either. However, successful vaccination drives did allow travel to restart within nations as well as internationally for some. Under its own vaccination drive, festivities, as well as encouragement for local travel, the Indian aviation industry also had the opportunity to begin its journey towards recovery in 2021. With a market size of $16 billion in July 2021, India is the tenth-largest civilian aviation market, stated the Indian Brand 10
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Equity Foundation (IBEF) in a report. A Morgan Stanley research report for the same month anticipated that the Indian aviation industry could recover to 80 per cent of the pre-COVID levels (as of 2020). According to the data released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), FDI inflow in India’s air transport sector (including air freight) reached $3.06 billion between April 2000 and June 2021. 2021 did allow the Indian aviation industry to experience a moment of calm with domestic flight operations reaching their pre-pandemic levels. This happened at a time when international travel largely stayed downsized amid COVID restrictions and