Keeping up with the steady civil aviation growth trend in India, the country is expected to add nearly 80 airports to meet the increasing passenger demand. The civil aviation ministry has been keen on airport development in the country and upgrading the existing infrastructure to support the country’s needs. And the new airports in the pipeline are part of that vision.
80 new airports
India’s aviation regulator has stated that the country could add nearly 80 new airports in the next 4 to 5 years. India’s annual aviation sector growth rate currently sits at around 9% but is likely to reach double digits in the coming years.
The growth has been significant. In the last 8 years alone, the number of airports in the country has increased from 74 to 141. This number is expected to shoot up to 220 in the next half a decade with all the new airports that have been planned.
The aviation ministry has given ‘in-principle’ approval to set up 21 greenfield airports across the country. Some of these include Mopa in Goa; Navi Mumbai, Shirdi, and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra; Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Hassan, and Shivamogga in Karnataka; Dabra in Madhya Pradesh; Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh; Dholera, and Hirasar (Rajkot) in Gujarat.
Eight of these – Durgapur, Shirdi, Sindhudurg, Pakyong, Kannur, Kalaburagi, Orvakal, and Kushinagar – have already been operationalized.
Many of these airports, helipads, and water aerodromes are targeted for development during FY 2022-23 under the regional RCS-UDAN scheme.
Guidelines
According to officials, the new airports need to meet certain specifications for safety purposes regarding its management systems, operational procedures, physical characteristics, assessment and treatment of obstacles, visual aids, and rescue and fire-fighting services.
The developer of these greenfield airports will also have to file applications to the steering committee at the Ministry of Civil Aviation before construction for site clearance. The proposed airfields will also require licenses in two categories, for private use and public use.
Larger plans
While new airports are expected to support India’s growing aviation market, the civil aviation ministry has a much larger vision. One of them is to possibly develop an aviation hub in India, with the government planning to create an ecosystem to support such a development in the future.
India is also keen on establishing hub airports. Photo: Getty Images
While Indian airports often feature in the list of busiest and well-maintained airports, they’re nowhere near some of their global counterparts when it comes to offering fast and reliable connections to international passengers.
While there are many challenges to developing a hub airport in India, aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia plans to iron out those issues in the coming few years.
India is also keen on having more than 90 airports be carbon-neutral by 2024, with a 2030 net-zero emissions target.
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