For most of the last 10-15 decades, India has been a poor country. Just a few decades back, not many would have even dared to imagine that the country would one day may become a challenger, or even a winner among global leaders in any sector. Well, history is about to change! Over the next 15-20 years, India will emerge as a world beater in aviation sector, overtaking the US, says Union aviation minister Jayant Sinha. 

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In an interview to English daily Hindustan Times, Sinha predicted that at the current rate of growth, India will reach a billion trips a year, in the next 15-20 years.

"We are seeing that this calendar year we will do roughly 225-230 million passenger trips. But if we continue to grow even at the long-term average, in the next 15-20 years, we are going to reach a billion trips a year," Sinha was quoted as saying. 

He further said, "By way of comparison, China is at about 600 million trips a year and the US is at about 900 million trips a year. China is growing at about 8.9% a year and the US is going at about 3% a year. I think we will surpass the US. Of course, China will continue to grow strongly and will become the number one market in the world; we are likely to become the number two market in the world, right next to the US." 

Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Commerce & Industry, Suresh Prabhu, and Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha today  launched the upgraded version of AirSewa 2.0 web portal and mobile app in New Delhi. 

At the event, Sinha said, "Today five crore passengers are travelling every year and will grow exponentially in the near future. There was an urgent need of upgradation of AirSewa and systemic intervention in improving customer services."