HOW DELHI CAN BECOME AN AVIATION HUB

India's booming aviation sector has instilled the idea in government of making Delhi a global aviation hub. But there are hurdles ahead

- Avishek Ghosh Dastidar

If India's ambitions align with reality, it could soon have an international aviation hub of its own, one offering Indian passengers increased convenience, more options to international destinations, shorter routes and competitive fares. For international travellers, it will mean one more gateway. For India's growing civil aviation sector and flagship carriers, this will be a significant opportunity for expansion.

So, what exactly is an international aviation hub? It is an airport airlines use to concentrate and route flights through, connecting passengers and traffic in what is recognised as the hub-and-spoke model. Aviation experts point out that India, despite its strategic location, has not been able to capitalise on its advantages because we never envisaged our airports as international hubs nor designed them as such from the ground up. Unlike, say, Singapore's Changi airport, which was designed to be an international-to-international (I-I) hub with a focus on space and infrastructure that would suffice for decades to come. Indeed, even its aircraft maintenance facility (part of the hub ecosystem) was designed to be scalable.