Airports Council International (ACI) World recently said the Indian government’s move to pursue further private investment in airport development will better enable the country to respond to the growing demand for air services. The key context for discussion at the Global Aviation Summit in Mumbai – organized by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Government of India, and with the support of ACI World – was that the global demand for air services continues to grow rapidly.

According to ACI World Airport Traffic Forecasts 2018-2040, India is expected to be the second fastest growing country with more than 50 million passengers per annum from 2017-2040 with 6.8% growth. “In order for India cope with surging demand in air transport, a clear plan for building critical aviation infrastructure is required,” says Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World. “With that in mind, it is good to see that the Indian government has moved to undertake a second phase of privatization. “Existing airport infrastructure in the country, and in many mature markets worldwide, will not be able to handle the expected growth so substantial investment is required, soon, to allow the aviation industry to meet growing demand.

“ACI’s evidence-based Policy Brief on creating fertile grounds for private investment confirms that airport privatization has proven to be an important generator of value for the passenger in terms of providing for new and improved infrastructure.” ACI World also said recently that private investment was not only an important tool for infrastructure development, it has also proven to provide an increase in the level of service, customer experience, and passenger satisfaction. “Private investment in airports around the world has proven crucial in improving the customer experience and airports are placing a greater emphasis on this in business planning. This is a highly competitive market and airports understand the importance of benchmarking their service quality performance against the industry.

This understanding has been clearly demonstrated by the increasing use of the ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme, the only passenger-centric global research tool providing objective management information to help airports understand the evolving needs and expectations of passengers throughout the entire journey through an airport.” India’s development of a clear plan for attracting private capital to build aviation infrastructure and its investments to improve the passenger experience are actions that will improve the competitiveness of the Indian transportation system at the global level.