Wings India 2020 to be held in Hyderabad from March 12-15

Wings India 2020, an international exhibition and conference on civil aviation sector, will be held at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad from March 12 to 15.

At a curtain raiser event here, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri sought active participation from the stakeholders for the same.

Pursuant to the success of Wings 2019, MOCA and FICCI is organising WINGS India 2020, "providing a congenial forum catering to the rapidly changing dynamics of the sector, focusing on new business acquisition, investments, policy formation and regional connectivity."

The event will provide a fillip to the aviation and restructured focused forums will be instrumental in attaining the objective of connecting the buyers, sellers, investors and other stakeholders at a common forum.

Puri on Thursday said that privatisation will strengthen the civil aviation sector in the country.

"We are currently in the process of a privatisation programme for our flight carriers. According to projections, privatisation will strengthen the civil aviation sector and contribute to the expansion of the sector both in the short and medium term," he said.

The Union Minister expressed confidence that the Indian civil aviation sector will soon have 2,000 flights operating in the country.

"My projection indicates that not only will we have 2,000 aircraft in the sky soon, but in the coming years Delhi and Jewar airport combine will be bigger than Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted combination, which handle 140 million passengers," Puri said.

"Delhi airport today is literally bursting and wants to grow. Even if we have a fourth runway, we may handle a traffic of 100 million people," he added.

Puri said that while India is currently facing a penetration in civil aviation of as little as 7-8 per cent, the same is expected to grow as high as 15, 20 and even 25 per cent in the near future.

"In spite of turbulence in the sector, particularly characterised by the secession of operations of one air carrier, between December 2018 and April 2019, the sector has registered a growth of 11.03 per cent on a year-on-year basis for November 2019," he said.