Page 29 - AAA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2013 Online Magazine

FEATURE INdIAN AIRPORTS

Unless the pace of infrastructure
development catches up with the swift rate of
growth in demand, airlines will not be able to
tap the full potential of the growth

– Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group

Ankur Bhatia, ED, Bird Group
Kaul, CEO, South Asia, CAPA. “And may nothern Uttar Pradesh, Andal-Faridpur in in 2011. Separately, budget carrier Go
require construction of 40 to 50 Greenfield eastern West Bengal, Itanagar in north- Airlines also ordered 72 320Neos in 2011.
airports by 2025. Combined with upgrades eastern Arunachal Pradesh, Kishangarh So with more aircraft flying in and to
to airspace infrastructure and ground (Ajmer) in western Rajasthan and Deoghar India, the severely capacity-constrained
transportation, expenditure could reach in eastern Jharkhand state. airports are very much in need of major
US$70 billion to US$80 billion,” he adds. Nonetheless, Ankur Bhatia, executive investments in the next few years. The
An AAI official (who prefers anonymity) director of travel conglomerate Bird Group, private sector will be looked upon for a
told AAA that AAI is already in the process says unless the pace of infrastructure large part of this investment.
of modernisation of 60 non-metro development catches up with the swift rate The government has already put six
airports, out of which development of of growth in demand, airlines will not be airports on the fast track for privatisation
35 airports have been undertaken. “The able to tap the full potential of the growth. and are in the process of international
modernisation work for 27 airports has And one senior executive of an Indian low- bidding for six airports – Ahmedabad,
been completed,” he says. India also cost carrier (LCC), who did not want to be Chennai, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kolkata and
proposes to build 17 new airports in the named, also says lack of adequate airport Lucknow will begin by the end of 2013.
country by 2017, as part of the 12 Plan infrastructure will only hamper the growth Another 15 airports, currently under
th
period between April 1, 2012 and March of airline industry unless rapid expansion the AAI, have been identified by the
31, 2017, says Junior Civil Aviation Minister is somehow enabled. government for privatisation during the
K.C. Venugopal. “There will always be a lag in current fiscal year, ending March 31, 2014.
infrastructure development since it is
New ground difficult to accurately predict the growth capacity plan
According to the minister, the privatisation in the sector... Hence, airlines need to The problem is, note many observers,
route has allowed development of take a balanced view on expansion during that overall investment requirements
efficient, world-class airports in India and boom period and should take into account for airport infrastructure are being
has fuelled the growth of air traffic in the aviation infrastructure development lest significantly underestimated. And what
country, but overcapacity is still viewed as they may be saddled with overcapacity, is of equally great concern in an industry
an obstacle being faced by the airlines. which could run up their losses,” the which requires a long-term, 20- to 30-year
Indeed, buoyant forecasts are being reined official of the LCC says. horizon is that there is no capacity plan for
in, aircraft leases are being reconsidered But the pressure is not letting up. the AAI beyond 2017, CAPA says.
and routes rationalised – thanks to the Indian airline companies have still been CAPA estimates that within the space
squeeze on the ground. ordering aircraft to meet the burgeoning of a generation, domestic Indian traffic
To ease the squeeze, new airports rise in the country’s air travel. Private could grow from 60 million passengers
will be located at Mopa in western carrier Jet Airways is understood to have currently to approach one billion
Goa state, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Hassan, placed an order for 50 737 MAX aircraft passengers by 2040. This is the kind of
Shimoga in southern Karnataka state, from Boeing. National carrier Air India transformational growth that could occur
Aranmula (Pathanamthitta) and Kannur plans to lease 19 Airbus A320 jetliners. In but which India is currently startlingly
in southernmost state of Kerala, January, IndiGo, India’s leading LCC, took underprepared for. Government estimates
Sindhudurg, Navi Mumbai and Shirdi in delivery of its first Airbus A320 aircraft. indicate that 675 billion rupees (US$13
western Maharashtra, Darba in central The delivery was part of IndiGo’s order for billion) will be required to develop and
Madhya Pradesh, Karaikal in southern 100 A320 aircraft in 2005, and predates modernise Indian airports during the 12
th
Pudducherry province, Kushinagar in its order for 180 Airbus A320neos placed Plan period (2012–2017), of which almost
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