New Delhi: Air travel, usually considered a preserve of the elite & distinguished class of people, is percolating down the ‘inferior’ social strata of the country. Justifying this claim is the viral photo of an individual flaunting his slippers (chappal) on a flight to Ayodhya.
Today, a picture of chappal (slippers) wearing flyer, apparently on Ayodhya bound flight surfaced on social media, drawing everyone’s attention and evoking many reactions from netizens.
Notably, as the Ram Lalla got installed inside the Ayodhy’s grand temple today, the celebrations reverberated across the length & breath of country. Many ‘Rambhakts’ & invited guests descended to the holy town today to become a witness to consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla.
The viral photo of ‘airline travel in slippers’ reinforces the vision of Modi government to enable hawai chappal yatris to have a hawai yatra.
PM’s repeated thrust on airline travel for ‘deprived’ class
It may be noted that Prime Minister has time & again called for empowering the deprived class and enabling them to avail all facilities including travelling by air.
In 2017, PM Modi launched an ambitious UDAN scheme to help realize the dream of ‘commoners’ taking to flight for travelling to destinations.
Flagging off 1st UDAN flight in Himachal, PM Modi had said, “I want to see a common man wearing a chappal on the ground to ride a plane.”
How has air travel changed in past decade
India is one of the fastest growing markets in aviation sector. The number of passengers are currently recorded at 70 million domestic tickets and witnessing a hike of about as high as 20% rise every year. Estimates put the 2030 estimate at about 300 million, a whopping hike in air traffic.
The official figures, as stated by Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia already shows the transforming changes in air travel.
Revealing the data, he declared sometime ago that after Modi government took charge, the number of passengers almost doubled from 60 million (2013-14) to 143 million till 2020.
Till 2014, only 74 airports operated across the country. But, after Modi government came to power, another 74 airports were operationalized. The aim is to push the envelope and take it par 200 mark.
