Ministry will not tolerate compromise on air safety: Hardeep Singh Puri

July 22, 2019: Hardeep Singh Puri, minister of state (independent charge) for civil aviation, housing and urban development has said that by 2040 air passenger traffic would increase nearly five times. He was speaking at the international conference cum awards on civil aviation and cargo held in Delhi on July 20 organised by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM).

Calling on the industry operators and all stakeholders in the civil aviation sector to work in a healthy manner, Puri also emphasised that his ministry would not tolerate any compromise on air safety and standards.

Among those who attended the event were Dr Ahmed Albanna, ambassador, Embassy of the United Arab Emirates and J Goburdhun, High Commissioner of the Republic of Mauritius. Speakers at the conference included Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet Limited; Ashish Saraf, head-Airbus Helicopters, India & South Asia; Narayana Rao, chairman and Ankur Bhatia, co-chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Civil Aviation.

As the chief guest, Puri also gave away the awards to the winners nominated under various categories. Some of the winners were Airbus, AAI Cargo, Bird Academy, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Frankfinn.

Addressing the ASSOCHAM conference, UAE ambassador to India Al Banna impressed upon the need to see how both countries could collaborate, cooperate and expand the industry and become partners in growth of the aviation sector. “The vision of our leadership with our plans, end goals, I think it will make us reach the maximum relationship in all sectors, including airline as we are trying to grow people to people connections,” he said.

Goburdhun, in his address, said that civil aviation sector must collaborate in facilitating exchange of people among the Indian diaspora and make special flights or low-cost carriers available to visit the ancestral land and to develop tangible and intangible heritage.