Hub-and-spoke model launched from Varanasi; 6 more airports to join in 6 weeks

THe Centre trilled come out the hub-and-spoke system air power posture from Varanasi, a move aimed at allowing passengers from tier II and tier III cities to access international destinations through major Indian airports without having to repeat baggage and immigration formalities during transit.Air India operated its first Easy Connect flight from Varanasi to Delhi under this model.Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the initiative, launched with Air India as the first participating airline, would change the way passengers from smaller cities connect with the rest of the world and help integrate more airports into the country’s international aviation network.Under the new system, passengers flying from cities such as Varanasi can complete check-in and immigration formalities at their origin airport, with baggage tagged through to their final international destination. At the hub airports, such as Delhi and Mumbai, travellers can proceed directly to their onward international flight as transit passengers instead of collecting baggage and undergoing immigration procedures again.“Earlier, if a passenger from Varanasi wanted to travel overseas, he would first fly to a hub airport such as Delhi, collect baggage, move between terminals and complete immigration and customs procedures before boarding the international flight. This initiative removes those additional steps,” Naidu said.The minister said six more airports would be brought under the hub-and-spoke model over the next six weeks.“We are going to give the same power to all those airports. It doesn’t remain a small city once the airport is connected to the world. It gets the power to grow rapidly,” he said.Naidu said the government’s objective was to ensure that the benefits of aviation growth extend beyond metropolitan centres such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bengaluru.India currently has 36 international airports, but a majority of direct international connectivity remains concentrated at a handful of major hubs. According to the minister, growing passenger demand from smaller cities has created the need for a seamless connectivity framework.Civil aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said the launch was the first practical implementation of the hub-and-spoke model in India.“Today, in the sacred city of Kashi, we are not merely launching a new initiative, rather, we are inaugurating a new era in India’s civil aviation sector. This is a historic occasion because, for the first time in India, the hub-and-spoke model is being implemented in practice,” Sinha said.Air India chief executive officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson said the Easy Connect flight AI1111 from Varanasi would provide connections to 17 international destinations, including London, Frankfurt, Singapore, Dubai and Riyadh.The airline plans to progressively introduce Easy Connect services from several other cities, including Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, Patna, Vadodara and Visakhapatnam.Wilson said the hub-and-spoke system would help channel a larger share of India’s international transit traffic through domestic hubs while expanding access to global destinations for passengers from smaller cities.“We will build a truly nationwide network that brings global connectivity closer to millions more Indians. This is more than a new product, it is a shift in how India experiences connectivity. Where you live in India will no longer determine how easily you can travel to the world. We at Air India are proud to lead this transformation together with the government and remain committed to working closely with all stakeholders to scale this initiative across the country. We look forward to welcoming many more travellers aboard Easy Connect flights and we thank you very much for your support,” Wilson said.Naidu also announced that IndiGo too would soon join to support this government initiative.Apart from this Naidu also spoke on fuel surcharge imposed by the airlines due to higher ATF prices.He said, “We have provided (airlines with) ₹10,000 crore of price stabilisation fund also. So you can see how important the Government of India is in treating this problem. Second thing, now we are seeing the prices come down, but we still have to observe it for quite some time because we have to see if it is coming down for a longer time or it’s a sudden moment that we are seeing.”“So we are continuously discussing with the airlines, because the last four months have been very critical for them as well in terms of operations, because of the price instability that has happened..we would just like to see it for a little bit more on how the clarity or how the stability is happening in this sector,” Naidu said“Once we see that this is there for a longer time, then obviously we are going to talk to them and in terms of surcharges or the additional prices that we are seeing at this moment, then definitely we’ll work into bringing it down as well,” he added.