Growing India’s air travel market
TEXT OF STORY
SCOTT JAGOW: This week, India’s largest private airline, Jet Airways, hopes to get a thumbs-up to fly to the U.S. At the same time, the head of the FAA is in India to look out for the interests of U.S. airlines. Miranda Kennedy reports from New Delhi.
MIRANDA KENNEDY: India is the world’s third-fastest growing aviation market, after the U.S. and China.
Four U.S. carriers already fly to India, but industry growth is being restrained by the fact that India’s airports aren’t up to American standards.
So the head of the FAA, Marion Blakely, today met with U.S. companies in New Delhi to talk about how they can change that.
MARION BLAKELY: When you have a 50% growth in passenger traffic in India in the last 10 months, you’ve got to see this as an enormous market, that will be both important for us from an economic standpoint, and a safety standpoint.
A slew of U.S. companies are ready to provide technical and financial help, and the U.S. government plans to install satellite systems and train Indian pilots and engineers.
In New Delhi, I’m Miranda Kennedy for Marketplace.
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