Air travel and the aviation industry has been an important contributing factor in the country's economic growth. 

Remote and isolated areas have been linked, tourism has received a major boost, numerous cities all over the country and abroad are now reached in a short time and goods are transported quickly, resulting in an accelerated pace of development and modernization.

Today more than ever before, larger and larger numbers of people are traveling by air, further from home for both business and pleasure. 

A doubling of air seats is being planned as part of Target '96, a Civil Aviation Ministry programme to lure five million additional visitors to India annually. Already, India ranks third in Asia in business traffic. It is also the second largest market in terms of total revenue collected for the carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The `open sky' policy now on the anvil would mean increased operations of foreign airlines on the India route. Several private airlines have already entered the fray. Therefore, with the anticipated rise in the business of flying, there are expanding employment opportunities not only for trained flying professionals but also for those in marketing, publicity, advertising, accounting, finance and so on in the numerous organizations opening up in this sector. 

A large number of women are already employed in the many sectors of civil aviation, several of them as airhostesses. Quite often, a woman is in charge of an aircraft's cabin crew. Ground staff, particularly in posts dealing with ticketing, reservation and passenger interaction are also traditionally women. There is also an increase in the number of women coming into commercial management, and of late, some women pilots too.