The Foundation for Aviation and Sustainable Tourism (FAST) organised a seminar on the theme ‘Emerging Scenarios in Aviation; India needs Matching Infrastructure and Support Services on 28 December 2023 , at India International Center, New Delhi.

Inaugurated by lighting the ceremonial lamp with welcome address by Lt. Gen. KM Seth, PVSM, AVSM (Retd.), former governor of Tripura and Chhattisgarh and president of the FAST, the seminar was well attended with the hall packed to its capacity reflecting public interest in the aviation sector.

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Setting the tone for the two Business Sessions, the president of FAST highlighted the need for Public Private Participation (PPP), technological Innovations for seamless passenger experience, potential of jobs in Aviation and other associated activities such as Cargo, MRO and ground handling.

Sanjeev Razdan, CMD, Pawan Hans, Kapil Kaul, CEO, Asia Pacific Region, CAPA; Inderjit Singh, Former Airport Director, Delhi Airport and Shri V P Agrawal , former chairman, AAI and vice-chairman, FAST were present on the occasion.

Other speakers made their respective presentations. Some of the highlights of the deliberations include unwrapping of the nuances and importance of infrastructure in a broader sense and linking it with the aviation and the nation-building exercise.

The present phase of the aviation sector described as exciting for India. With Air India’s game-changing privatisation, the whole gamut has been re-defined in terms of giving the operators the power to make bold decisions. It was flagged that post-Covid-19, India’s airport sector is virtually ahead of demand and this with the continuous thrust of AAI in building new airports and enhancing the capacity of existing airports is motivating the airlines and other business partners and the Country must take advantage of this.

It was emphasised that the Indian travel appetite is long-term, both for domestic and international sectors. With these positive notes the importance of enabling institutions such as DGCA, CNS, and BCAS and their role in the upcoming times; in terms of training, security, safety, etc. gets enhanced. The enabling institutions shall have the superiority in technology knowledge for themselves to be at the cutting edge technological developments in the industry. Even if that mandates re-casting and re-building of key institutions, it shall be taken up in the interest of the sustainability of the aviation sector.

The tax structure was also touched upon and it was emphasised that the choice between incremental or transformative change is in our hands and the need of the hour is to go for TC (transformative change) but this requires a befitting leadership with a lot of responsibility, dedication, and devotion.

Listing the challenges on the technical and fiscal side the audience was reminded of the VUCA World (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) wherein the consumer protection regularity provisions need to be further strengthened. Planning for the transformative change shall start right away and it shall be in the hands of those who have a vision of the fast-changing world, this shall be clubbed with befitting execution capabilities.

Two business sessions followed the inaugural session moderated by V P Agrawal, former chairman, AAI and vice-chairman of FAST, and Dr. RK Tyagi, former chairman of HAL. The inaugural session ended on a happy note with a Vote of thanks Shri Raman Sidhu, FCA, chairman, EBG Federation, India & Life Trustee FAST.