New Delhi: The Centre has prepared a five-year plan to develop and expand over 50 airports in smaller cities, two senior officials aware of the project said on condition of anonymity. The move is in line with the expected growth in demand for air travel in these cities.
The plan, drawn up by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), aims to develop airport infrastructure through different projects that are underway or will be undertaken by the central government, states or private players, till 2030.
The plans come at a time when Indian domestic air traffic is showing strong signs of growth. Data from the Civil Aviation Ministry showed that domestic air traffic hit a new record of 477,554 passengers on September 2, up nearly 1.5% from the previous record of 470,751 passengers recorded on April 21 this year.
Among the new airports under construction, Bihta Airport is set to become the second airport for Bihar’s capital Patna. The groundbreaking ceremony for the airport is scheduled for late 2024 as the government prepares for the growing demand for air travel at Patna Airport, which is likely to become saturated by the early 2030s.
Once completed, the airport will offer facilities such as over 60 check-in counters, over 15 self-service check-in kiosks and will be able to serve 3,000 passengers during peak hours with an annual capacity to reach up to 5 million passengers in the next 20 years.
The five-year plan also includes new airports like Ankleshwar and Dwarka in Gujarat, the people cited above said.
“Over the next five years, we can expect significant growth in demand for air travel in Indian cities that are currently underserved or underserved,” said Pragya Priyadarshini, vice president at management consultancy Primus Partners.
Priyadarshini said that as development projects take shape in these regions in the form of new industries, infrastructure and services, people and businesses will need faster and more efficient ways to connect with other parts of the country and the world.
“This naturally leads to an increasing demand for airports in these areas,” he added.
More development on the anvil
The government is also gearing up to start work on developing new civil enclaves at some air force stations. Some of these projects planned for the next five years include Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, Hasimara in West Bengal and Thoise in Ladakh, among others.
Over the next five years, some airports will also undergo a transition to using larger aircraft instead of the current turboprop operations. These include VFR (visual flight rules) operations for narrow-body aircraft such as the Airbus A320 at Agatti Airport; IFR (instrument flight rules) operations for narrow-body aircraft at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand; and expansion of operations at Mysuru Airport to accommodate narrow-body aircraft.
Under VFR flight rules, the pilot must be able to operate the aircraft with visual reference to the ground and visually avoiding obstructions and other aircraft. IFR flight relies on flying with reference to instruments in the cockpit and navigation is done with reference to electronic signals, as visual reference is not clear.
As air traffic increases, Indian airlines have also geared up to create capacity as carriers such as IndiGo, Air India and Akasa Air have over 1,600 aircraft in the pipeline to be delivered before the end of the decade or so.
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