High On Expectations, Low On Delivery

This year, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and FICCI-organised Wings India 2018 left much to be desired. While there were a limited number of aircraft on show, there were few exhibitors, fewer celebrities and a host of disappointed visitors. This, at a time, when the country is all set to leap into the big league of aviation nations

The 2018 edition of India’s international civil aviation exhibition and conference, Wings India at Hyderabad, did not attract the kind of attention that it should have. Jointly organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the premier air show of the country, was held at a crucial juncture: on one hand, domestic carriers are boosting capacity, ordering and receiving planes, while on the other, the government and the ministry of civil aviation have focused on connectivity and taken the initiative to boost infrastructure. Most important of all, flier numbers have been going up at an unimaginable pace to make the country one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world: currently the ninth largest civil aviation market in the world, the Indian market size is of around US$ 16 bn.

Keeping all that in mind, the four-day event themed ‘India - Global Aviation Hub’ should have had all the bells and whistles but it was nowhere near. To begin with, there was no Minister of Civil Aviation because a day earlier, Ashok Gajapathi Raju had resigned.