Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu recently reviewed the status of skill development in aviation sector and the progress being made on developing National Air Cargo Policy. He directed the concerned in the ministry to come up with a comprehensive development plan for skilling the people in the aviation sector.
During the review meeting, the minister stated that the demand for aviation skilled personnel has been rising commensurately with the boom in the civil aviation sector witnessed in the last 3-4 years.
Recognising the need for increasing air cargo industry size in India, Prabhu underlined few important factors like sufficient land should be earmarked in the upcoming airports for cargo operations; there is need to create air cargo trans-shipment hubs in India – sourcing cargo from neighbouring states and partner countries; the policy should aim at creating inter-modal hubs and should have air-sea, air-road, air-inland waterways connectivity and; geographical location and distinct products related to that location should be kept in mind while developing the cargo policy.
Stressing on the need for skilling the people in aviation sector and to have national air cargo policy in place, Prabhu directed the concerned in the ministry to work on the observations made in the review meeting and come up with actionable items soon.
