IATA Urges Policy Makers To Use Aviation As Strategic Asset

SINGAPORE, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged policy makers to use aviation as a strategic asset. Its director-general and chief executive officer, Tony Tyler said: "When the relationship between industry and government works, the results are brilliant. "Policies that support aviation’s competitiveness deliver wide-ranging benefits across economies by connecting business to markets. "Aviation is a key economic contributor. In Singapore, for example, where the government has supported aviation as a strategic industry, it contributes 119,000 quality jobs and 5.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP)," he said in a keynote address to the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit here Monday. Tyler said the connectivity that aviation provides to Singapore has enabled it to develop as a successful regional hub for sectors as diverse as finance, healthcare, culture and education. He said not all governments have the same positive approach. He said India is one market that is missing out on aviation’s potential as a result of a policy framework that does not support aviation’s competitiveness. High taxes, a lack of capacity in Mumbai and increasing infrastructure costs in Delhi (both are cities in India) are some examples holding back Indian aviation’s potential. "The stunted growth of Indian aviation comes with an economic cost. India’s population is about 240 times the size of Singapore’s. But the number of aviation jobs is just about 14 times larger at 1.7 million. "And the economic contribution of aviation is still only 0.5 per cent of the Indian economy. It is an important 0.5 per cent. "But even considering the differential in GDP/capita between Singapore and India, these numbers tell us that there is tremendous unrealised potential in India," added Tyler. -- BERNAMA