India plans to boost regional aviation connectivity
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India plans to boost regional aviation connectivity and reopen closed airports, civil aviation secretary said, as part of its plans to improve passenger growth in one of the world's fastest-growing yet fiercely competitive aviation markets.
The Indian government proposes to impose an additional levy of 2 percent on all domestic and international tickets to pay for the regional connectivity boost, said R.N. Choubey, while presenting the country's draft aviation policy.
The policy comes as airline passenger numbers increase 20 percent a year to 38.8 million in the first half of 2015, leaving India's major airports, which account for four-fifths of traffic, saturated.
(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Anand Basu)