#Bhavnagar
Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu on Sunday said India's aviation sector is facing a bottleneck in procurement of new aircraft, citing that while 1,700 new planes are on order, supply chain disruptions mean deliveries may take up to 15 years.
Naidu, who flagged off new flights at Bhavnagar airport, stated that the government is emphasising domestic manufacturing of aircraft through joint ventures with global giants like Embraer, and a partnership with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is already underway to produce the Sukhoi Superjet 100.
The minister remarked that building airports is not difficult once land is made available, but getting aircraft has become a major bottleneck after the COVID-19 pandemic. "After COVID-19, there were many difficulties in aircraft manufacturing. There was some disruption in the supply chain. So the speed and scale at which aircraft were supposed to be built have decreased," he said. "When these aircraft start arriving, it will become easier for the airlines to fulfil the new aspirations and demands for connectivity," he said. The government is working on speeding up aircraft imports and boosting domestic manufacturing, he said.PTI