2014 will be another exciting year for Indian aviation. The landscape is changing with two new airlines expected to commence operations, Indian carriers expanding their activities through partnerships; and renewed interests by India’s trading partners to expand their bilateral air services agreements. The tremendous potential that this presents will only be realised by coming to grips with some big challenges in a coordinated effort by India’s authorities. India is still a high airport cost environment for airlines to operate in. The tax and regulatory burdens on airlines are onerous. And we are still waiting for critical capacity expansion with Navi Mumbai. My hope is that 2014 will be the year where we put these challenges behind us so that the Indian industry can enter the second century of commercial aviation on a solid footing for success.

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