Air India has commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘hub-and-spoke’ strategy to elevate India into a global aviation hub. The airline intends to initiate international flights from Varanasi under this model. Campbell Wilson, the CEO of Tata Group-owned airline, lauded the government’s move, emphasizing its potential to enhance connectivity and maximize airport infrastructure utilization nationwide.
Wilson expressed gratitude towards PM Modi for envisioning India as a prominent aviation hub and fostering the growth of the aviation sector. He highlighted the pivotal role played by the Civil Aviation Ministry and senior officials in promoting the hub-and-spoke framework to ensure operational efficiency, passenger comfort, and safety.
In alignment with this approach, Air India is gearing up to launch international services from Varanasi to facilitate travel for individuals from eastern Uttar Pradesh and neighboring areas. P. Balaji, Group Head at Air India, emphasized that this initiative would extend India’s aviation reach beyond major cities, making global travel more convenient for passengers residing in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
The adoption of the hub-and-spoke model signifies a significant transformation in India’s aviation landscape, transitioning from a primarily end destination market to a global transit network, as stated by the airline. Recently, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu chaired a meeting to assess Delhi Airport’s readiness for implementing hub-and-spoke operations, aiming to establish seamless connectivity between Tier-II and Tier-III airports under the UDAN scheme and international locations.
Minister Naidu highlighted that a substantial portion of Indian international travelers currently transit through foreign hubs like Dubai, London, and Singapore. The government’s objective is to reverse this trend by developing competitive Indian hubs such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai.
