MoCA eyes USD 1.4 tn by 2047 with hub-and-spoke strategy: Minister Naidu
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By 2047, the cumulative impact of this initiative is projected to generate around 16 mn direct and indirect jobs.
Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu, reviewed the readiness of Delhi Airport for the implementation of hub-and-spoke operations, chairing a meeting with all key stakeholders at the airport.
The government has developed an International Aviation Hub Strategy, under which several key measures have been undertaken, including adopting a calibrated approach in granting Points of Call to foreign carriers, particularly for non-metro destinations, renegotiating bilateral agreements in a manner that strengthens Indian carriers and promotes domestic hubs and liberalising domestic code-share arrangements to enable Indian airlines to expand their global reach.
“By 2047, the cumulative impact of this initiative is projected to generate approximately 16 million direct and indirect jobs and contribute nearly USD 1.4 trillion to the Indian economy,” mentioned Minister Naidu.
The meeting was attended by senior officials including Secretary Civil Aviation and representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Bureau of Immigration (BoI), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), Customs, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), CISF, DigiYatra, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and leading airlines. The Minister also led a delegation for an on-ground walkthrough of passenger flow systems and inspected the Security Hold Area (SHA) at Terminal 3 of Delhi Airport to assess operational preparedness.
Elaborating on the significance of the hub-and-spoke model, Minister Naidu stated, “It will enable seamless connectivity between Tier-II and Tier-III airports developed through UDAN scheme and the international destinations.” He noted that while the passengers will benefit from reduced travel time, there will also be optimal utilisation of the infrastructure already developed across the country.
The Hub and Spoke Strategy represent a shift in India’s aviation landscape from being primarily an end-destination market to evolving into a global transit hub, thereby allowing Indian airports to capture a substantial share of transfer traffic that is currently routed through foreign hubs.
At present, nearly 35% of international passengers travelling from India transit through foreign hubs such as Dubai, London and Singapore. MoCA aims to reverse this trend by developing globally competitive Indian hubs like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai. Minister Naidu giving the example of Delhi Airport pointed out that the airport stands out with its capacity exceeding 100 million passengers annually, handles nearly 50% of the total passenger traffic in the northern region and manages around 50,000 daily transfers, thereby positioning itself as a natural hub airport.
The implementation of the hub-and-spoke model will also enable airlines to deploy their aircraft more efficiently for international operations, while contributing to decongestion at major airports by decentralising customs and immigration processes to spoke locations.
While appreciating active involvement of all the stakeholders, Minister Naidu appreciated that Indian airlines have placed significant orders for wide-body aircraft, which will enhance long-haul connectivity and support hub operations. At the same time, Delhi Airport has initiated work on creating slot banks to facilitate quicker and more efficient passenger transfers. The adoption of technology-driven solutions, including DigiYatra, will further streamline the movement of passengers, particularly those transferring between domestic and international segments.
Under the hub-and-spoke model, passengers arriving from various smaller cities will be consolidated in a coordinated manner and routed through major hub airports such as Delhi for onward international connections. Outbound flights will carry both originating domestic passengers and international transit passengers. At the spoke airport, passengers will be issued two separate boarding passes, clearly marked with ‘D’ (domestic) and ‘I’ (international) indicators. Customs and immigration formalities for outbound passengers will be completed at the first point of exit from the country, which will be the spoke airport, and passengers on such outbound journeys will not have access to customs declaration facilities during transit.
For inbound passengers, customs and immigration processes will take place at the final point of entry into the country, which will again be the spoke airport. The model further envisages that baggage for both inbound and outbound international passengers will be transferred seamlessly through airside operations at the hub airport, eliminating the need for passenger intervention. In order to maintain operational efficiency and regulatory clarity, combination flights will not be permitted, and separate aircraft will be deployed for the domestic and international segments of hub-and-spoke operations.
