T3 brings you the latest update on the development of various airport projects.
Site clearance for Dholera Airport Project
Minister of State for Civil Aviation, G.M. Siddeshwara informed the Lok Sabha that the Government has accorded site clearance for the Greenfield international airport project at Dholera at Ahmedabad in Gujarat being developed by the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board in 2014. Further, the Taj International Greenfield airport project proposed at Hirangoan, Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh is presently under the preliminary scrutiny of the Government.
Kargil Airport to be expanded
The Government has planned to expand the Kargil Airport to enable operations to all major transport aircraft. The Kargil Airport belongs to the State Government of J&K and was leased to Airports Authority of India (AAI). AAI has transferred the operational control and maintenance to Indian Air Force (IAF). Presently, the Runway dimension is 6000 ft X 100 ft (1829M X 30M) and the Terminal Building has the capacity to handle 100 peak hour passengers at a time. The airport is equipped with proper facilities for civil air operations. However, no airline is operating from this airport as it is not commercially viable. IAF has been mandated to take up the development work at Kargil Airport including Runway extension by 3000 ft. Approval of the State Government has been sought for extension of operational control of the airport for further period of 20 years to enable IAF to take up the development work of the airport.
Pakyong Airport near completion
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has taken up the project for construction of new Greenfield Airport at Pakyong, Sikkim at a cost of Rs. 309.46 crores for operation of ATR-72 type of aircraft. So far, 83% of the work has been completed. The project has been delayed over 50 months due to several hindrances like connectivity of site, adverse weather conditions, frequent bandhs and unrest by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, earthquake in 2011 and continuous agitation by the local inhabitants of the surrounding areas of the airport project demanding compensation for damage to their houses. The date of completion of the Pakyong Airport project can be projected / re-assessed only after all the issues pertaining to compensation and security at the site are resolved by the State Government
Expansion of Dimapur Airport complete
The expansion of apron with additional bays for parking A-321 type of aircraft at Dimapur Airport has already been carried out. For further development additional requirement of land has been projected to the State Government of Nagaland. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has prepared a Detailed Project Report for construction of a Greenfield Airport at Ciethu near Kohima. However, the proposed site has certain limitations for operations due to hilly and undulating terrain which may limit its operations to clear weather conditions and hamper further expansion of the airport. Subsequently, the State Government has identified another site at Ruzaphema in Peren district and also suggested to reassess the feasibility at Ciethu for bigger aircrafts by cutting down an adjacent small hillock. In order to carry out feasibility studies, AAI has requested the Nagaland Government to provide the required documents like Survey of India map with duly marked airport sites, revenue map of the sites and metrological data for the last five consecutive years.
The steps taken to increase the flights to designate remote and strategic areas include waiving off landing charges to aircraft with a maximum certified capacity of less than 80 seats operating from non-metro airports, waiving off night parking charges for aircraft of domestic operators at airports located in states where State Govt. levies VAT on ATF upto 5%. Also, as per Slot Allocation guidelines, if an existing airline plans a new flight to connect new stations in Tier-II/ Tier-III cities from Tier-I cities, then the same is given priority over other airlines for allocation of slots. Further, the Govt. of India has issued a Policy on Regional and Remote Area Air Connectivity to encourage every air transport service operator to provide a minimum of air transport services to designate remote and strategic areas.
New integrated terminal building planned for Port Blair Airport
The Government has planned to construct a new Integrated Terminal Building for peak hour capacity of 1200 passengers at Port Blair Airport. The tender auction for the same is in process. Presently, the localizer, which is one of the component of Instrument Landing System is available and there is a plan to install Glide Path so as to complete Instrument Landing System. The airport is operated by Indian Navy and they have been requested to commence round the clock operation at this airport.
Fifty locations identified for small airports
The Government has so far identified 50 locations with potential for small airports in various states namely, Kadapa, Tirupati, Vijayawada,Warangal in Andhra Pradesh, Along, Daparizo, Pasighat, Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh, Jorhat,Rupsi,Silchar in Assam, Gaya, Raxaul in Bihar, Bilaspur, Raigarh in Chattisgarh, Daman, Diu in Daman & Diu, Bhawanagar, Jamnagar, Kandla, Keshod in Gujarat, Hisar, Karnal in Haryana, Kishtwar in J&K, Deoghar, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, Belgaum,Hubli in Karnataka, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, Akola, Amravati, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Solapur in Maharashtra, Jharsuguda in Odisha, Ludhiana in Punjab, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Kota in Rajasthan, Thanjavore in Tamil Nadu and Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly, Faizabad, Kanpur, Meerut, Moradabad and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
These were informed by Minister of State for Civil Aviation G.M. Siddeshwara to the Lok Sabha.
