Air transport
Topic: Infrastructure: Transport, Communications and Energy · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 7 "Physical Infrastructure"
Meaning
Air transport is the fastest mode of transport. Passenger flights carry people. Cargo flights carry high-value or perishable goods (goods that spoil quickly) such as vaccines, chemicals and seafood. It is vital for disaster relief, because planes can reach high mountains, deserts, dense forests and long stretches of ocean. Airways are Union List entry 29. Indian aviation began with Tata Airlines in 1932.
Example
India has the third-largest domestic air traffic in the world. It handled about 376 million passengers in 2024-25 and had 159 airports in 2025. The UDAN scheme (2016) caps fares on routes to under-served airports.
Related concepts
- Open skies policy
- Major and minor ports
- Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit
- Containerisation
- Transshipment hub