India must slash aviation taxes and costs, reform its air traffic management and regulatory frameworks and build dedicated low-cost airport facilities, delegates at the Routes Asia Strategy Summit in Mumbai have been told.
India must also avoid "complacency" and "arrogance" if is to kick start growth of its fragile aviation sector, IndiGo’s CEO, Aditya Ghosh, has warned.
He said India’s airlines were barely scratching the surface of demand and were at least 15 years behind neighbour China.
Encouraging global practices such as unbundling of fares to help realise the potential for ancillary revenues would help airlines to deliver a better outcome for passengers, he said.
"There are abundant examples around the world, as well as across sectors, where price deregulation has led to far superior customer service and experience and lower prices," Ghosh added.
India’s airlines had barely scratched the surface of potential demand for air travel in India, with less than 1% of the number of rail passengers currently flying, but major challenges such as high and inefficient taxes, inadequate infrastructure and the devaluation of the rupee were holding back growth, the CEO of IndiGo warned.
