The minister made the comments while addressing a civil aviation event, Wings India 2020.
(IANS photo)
The Coronavirus pandemic may lead to a 15-20 per cent drop in domestic air traffic but India would overcome the challenge and see robust growth in the civil aviation sector, said the Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday.
The minister made the comments while addressing a civil aviation event, Wings India 2020, organized by the ministry of civil aviation in Hyderabad.
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“In a country of nearly 1.30 billion people, we have 80 positive cases. Many of them are going to be okay, we may add some, but looking at that perspective we will not only overcome the challenge but I see robust and vibrant growth in civil aviation sector,” he said.
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During his speech, the minister listed out the initiatives taken by the government to screen the passengers since the outbreak of coronavirus in China. He said airports in India constitute a global benchmark on how airports should work in a situation like this.
He further added that India had so far screened 10,876 flights coming in from abroad and as many as 11,71,061 passengers were screened out of which 3,225 passengers required further screening.
The minister said that the situation caused due to the Coronavirus pandemic situation may cause some economic disadvantage but it was only a passing phase. He expressed confidence that India would be in a position to take advantage of the opportunities that may arise from the global challenge.
(With input from agencies)
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