In the "share your comments" feature of this column on rediff http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/may/07spec.htm I have said the following:
<Subject: Flying by the seat of the pants The author claims: <say goodbye to train journeys, as a surprisingly large number of airlines prepare to slug it out in the skies.> But what are our top level policy makers doing to ensure that Indian civil aviation expands seamlessly? There is no move afoot to review the military's onerous restrictions on Indian civil aviation to see which ones can be eliminated expeditiously without seriously compromising the country's security. The biggest need is to persuade the military to think in terms of effectively "sharing" costly assets like airports esp those in tourism centred states like Goa. There is no evidence that the civil aviation ministry plans to give priority to the needs of low cost carriers in its grandiose plans to privatise and modernise Mumbai and Delhi airports. There are no specific plans to activate and upgrade the scores of airfields lying unused in the country. There is no concerted effort to bring down the sales taxes on aviation fuel imposed by states and to help them fund greenfield airports which are cost effective and low cost carrier friendly. I am afraid that one high profile plane crash will bring all the hype to a grinding halt! Posted by Philip Thomas on 08-MAY-05> I hope this will be of interest to goanetters.
