Earlier this year, The Economic Times reported that the Civil Aviation Ministry in India has issued a document called ‘The Vision 2020’. This report has set a target of developing 500 operational airports in the next 12 years. India currently has 448 airports, but only 80 out of these are fully functional. These 80 airports are equipped to handle scheduled commercial, charter and defence services.
What happened to the remaining 368 airports? According to Kapil Kaul, Chief Executive Officer (India & Middle East), Centre For Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), these 368 airports are just landing strips. Out of these, 156 belong to the defence or semi-defence sectors. 63 airstrips are owned by the private sector.
The Civil Aviation Minister of India, Praful Patel has asserted that in the foreseeable future, all 604 districts of India will be connected to an airport. The airport infrastructure is taking off in the hinterlands. 200 small airports are expected to mushroom over the next ten years. The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which owns and manages 127 of the 448 airports is planning to give several functional airports a makeover. The Airports Authority of India was created on April 1, 1995 by combining the International Airports Authority of India and the National Airports Authority.
India Abroad, June 20, 2008 has published an interesting article, ‘Small airports set to dot India’ by Sudipto Dey and Kunal N Talgeri, on India’s coming aviation boom. The authors state “Modernisation is not the big story in small airports. Building airports from scratch is. For the first time since Independence, greenfield airport projects are set to bloom. At last count, 59 new airports across 17 states are at some stage of proposal or execution. For many of these mofussil towns, an airport will be their passport for national identity.”
Dey and Talgeri further explain, “Non-metro airports will cost about Rs 250-450 crore ($59-106 million). Their business models will be different from that of the metro airports, which generate a critical mass of passenger traffic. Experts say airport operations in most non-metros will be viable only at eight to ten flights a day. Most small airports will start with one or two flights a day, and reach four flights a day in three to four years. So, the project viability will hinge on city-side revenues. Revenues from tourism, industry, commercial development of real estate, and aviation-related services like training, repair and maintenance will have to cross-subsidise the airport’s operations.” This aviation-infrastructure would develop India.
Filed under: Indian Infrastructure | Tagged: 448 Airports, 500 New Airports, 604 Districts, AAI, Airport, Airport Infrastructure, Airport Operations, April 1st 1995, Aviation Boom, Aviation-Infrastructure, Aviation-Related, CAPA, Centre For Asia Pacific Aviation, Charter, Chief Executive Officer, City-Side, Civil Aviation Ministry, Commercial, Commercial Development, Cross-Subsidise, Defence, Defence Services, Greenfield, Hinterlands, India, India & Middle East, India Abroad, Industry, International Airports Authority of India, June 20th 2008, Kapil Kaul, Kunal N Talgeri, Maintenance, Metro Airports, Mofussil, National Airports Authority, National Identity, Non-metro Airports, non-metros, Passenger Traffic, Praful Patel, Private Sector, Projects, Real Estate, Repair, Revenues, Rs 250-450 crore, semi-defence, Services, Sudipto Dey, The Airports Authority of India, The Civil Aviation Minister of India, The Economic Times, The Vision 2020, Tourism, Training | Leave a comment »
THINK! 