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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP GVL Narasimha Rao while speaking on the growth of the aviation sector during Prime Minister Narednra Modi's tenure said that the sector on the whole has become more accessible and the number of domestic passengers has increased two and a half times since the BJP came to power in 2014.
"The aviation sector has become accessible to the people, to the common man. We are the 3rd-largest domestic aviation market in the world today. The number of domestic passengers has increased two and a half times since we took over from UPA. It was 60 million domestic passengers, which has increased at its peak to 143 million," Narasimha Rao said while speaking to reporters on Friday. On the growth of international passengers, the Rajya Sabha MP said, "International passengers increased from 43 million in 2014 to 64 million today." The number of aircraft in the country has increased 70-80 per cent over nine years, Narasimha Rao said. "The number of aircraft in the country has increased from 400 to 723. It is almost a 70-80 per cent increase over nine years," Rao said. On increasing the number of airports throughout the expanse of the country, the BJP MP said, "The number of airports which was 74 has expanded to 150 and the target is to take this to 220 in a matter of one to two years. This is taking aviation closer to the people, ensuring connectivity to all regions in the country whereas earlier it was limited to major cities." Narasimha Rao said that the number of airports has increased in the northeastern region as well making even the remotest regions accessible. "In the northeastern region, the number of airports has increased from nine to 17. Every state is now connected and the remotest regions even in the northeast are connected. Four new international airports have been added during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said. The number of operational airports in the country has doubled from 74 in 2014 to 148 in April 2023. From January to September 2023, domestic airlines carried 112.86 million passengers, a 29.10 per cent increase from 87.42 million passengers carried during the same period in 2022. Between January and September 2023, airlines carried 45.99 million international passengers, a significant 39.61 per cent increase compared to the 32.94 million passengers carried in the same period of 2022, a press release from the Ministry of Civil Aviation said. (ANI)
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