Govt working on comprehensive plan for aviation sector: Prabhu

The government is in the process of coming out with a comprehensive plan for the aviation sector with deliverables by 2035, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said today.

He laid the foundation stone for Civil Aviation Research Organisation (CARO) being set up by Airports Authority of India with an expenditure of Rs 250 crore at the Begumpet Airport here.

"Everyone is a passenger today or an aspiring passenger. It would be our mission to make sure that air travel will be accessible and affordable and then it should be comfortable. We will try to match all the three elements of aviation into one and we are working on it," Prabhu said at the ceremony.

"To make it we need to put so many things in place. One of the first orders I issued as minister of aviation, was to prepare a comprehensive plan for the aviation sector with complete deliverables by 2035," he added.

He said the government is working on a cargo policy which will aim at using the unused aviation infrastructure.

Speaking about CARO, the minister said the construction of the facility is expected to be completed in 18 months.

A senior official of the AAI said CARO has entered into MoUs with industry leaders such as Honeywell Technology Solutions and Boeing and institutions such as IIT-Madras and Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.

Begumpet Airport is currently not used for scheduled flights.

The CARO which will come up in 27 acres at the airport, will cater to Air Navigation Systems and Airport Engineering Services, among other aviation related issues.