In 20 years, India to develop additional 200 airports: Rammohan Naidu

New Delhi: Highlighting the growth potential of India's civil aviation space, Union minister K Rammohan Naidu on Thursday said the country might need 4,000 more planes in the next 20 years and 200 more airports are expected to be developed during the same period. Currently, Indian carriers are operating around 800 planes and more than 1,200 aircraft are on order. The number of airports has doubled to 157 in the last 10 years and the count is expected to rise by 50 in the next 5 years.

"In the next 20 years, we might need another 4,000 aircraft to cater to the demand of the Indian aviation sector," Naidu said and stressed on the need for further developing the airport ecosystem in the country.

Airports have to be places for job creation, economic activities and commerce centres, he added.

India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets.

The minister was speaking after inaugurating the Airbus India and South Asia Headquarters - Training Centre in the national capital.

"With expanding air travel, the stress on pilots, both physical and mental, is kind of increasing.... state-of-the-art simulators being set up are going to provide a world-class training environment where pilots can practice complex procedures in a very realistic environment," Naidu said.

The minister also mentioned about efforts to ensure more ease of doing business and long-term plans to design and manufacture planes in India.

Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said the air passenger traffic in the country is expected to double in the next five years from 220 million, which was achieved last year.

The Airbus centre will also serve as a pilot and maintenance training centre that will accommodate four A320neo Full Flight Simulators (FFS).