The Civil Aviation Minister Mr Ajit Singh today said that government will give priority to the North Eastern Region and tier two and three cities of the country to provide air connectivity to remote areas. Addressing an International Conference on Indian Civil Aviation in New Delhi, Mr. Singh said that a new and innovative solution in the form of Route Dispersal Guidelines, aircraft acquisition and development of low cost airports will be put in place in this regard.

Expressing concern over the financial health of airline carriers in the country, he said that one of the major challenges of the air traffic industry is growing debt burden of the carriers.

Mr Singh emphasised the need to develop India as an international hub for the passengers and said that action in this regard has been initiated, which includes revisiting the policy regarding bilateral air service agreements with different countries and rationalisation of all bilaterals and traffic entitlements on international routes to Indian carriers. The Minister said that 49 percent FDI by foreign airlines in Indian carriers is also one of the major actions taken in this direction.