An Indo-EU Aviation Summit will be held in New Delhi November 23-24 to bring together top-level policy makers and industry executives from several related sectors so Indo-EU cooperation can be enhanced in aviation. The focus of this summit will be policy and business strategies and address a several trends and opportunities between the two entities.
The summit is to cover political and regulatory developments, development of Indo-EU passenger and cargo markets, infrastructure needs and investment opportunities, safety and security policies and co-operation, review of new challengers in commercial aircraft technology, and air traffic management and technological and industrial co-operation. The summit will be attended by key representatives of governments, airlines, airports and aerospace industries, and service providers.
As strategic partners, India and the EU agreed on a Joint Action Plan in September 2005 that included several initiatives in civil aviation. With one of the fastest growing air traffic market in the world, India saw domestic passenger traffic increase by 22% and international traffic by 15%. Since 1990, the number of available seats between India and EU grew by 116% from 2.6 to 5.5 million and is expected to grow even faster because of emerging opportunities.
A major stumbling block to growth is the weak airport and road infrastructure and attracting investments is seen as a key ingredient necessary to upgrade Indian aviation. Economic reforms and integration of European aviation markets offer both significant opportunities to address the challenges of scaling and integration.
The Indo-EU Aviation Summit is jointly organized by the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India and the Directorate General for Energy & Transport of the European Commission.