India to Host 2nd Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation This Week

The second Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation will be held in the national capital on September 11 and 12, which is expected to see the participation of around 250 representatives from 41 countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the valedictory session of the conference on September 12.

The Asia Pacific region is a significant contributor to global air traffic and India is the world's fastest growing aviation market.

Briefing reporters here on Monday, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the conference will look to have a road map for elevating the civil aviation sector in the region.

Around 250 representatives from 41 countries are expected to participate in the conference, Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said.

On whether there will be representatives from Pakistan and China at the conference, he said there will be no representative from Pakistan.

About China, he said it is under process.

There will also be bilateral meetings with various countries, including Vietnam, Maldives, Japan and Singapore.

The conference will focus on building robust partnerships and addressing critical challenges, such as infrastructure development, market gaps, sustainability and workforce shortages.

It will also discuss topics like airspace optimisation, cyber security and net zero.

The conference will be jointly organised by the Indian government and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) APAC. The first Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation was held in Beijing in 2018.

By 2035, Naidu said the Asia Pacific region is expected to account for over 40 per cent of global air traffic, with nearly 3.5 billion passengers travelling annually.

India is the fastest-growing aviation market in the world and is currently the third largest in the domestic segment. In the last decade, the number of aircraft in India has increased from 400 to more than 800 and airports have exponentially grown from 74 to 157, as per the ministerial conference website.