Praful Patel promises 20 new airports by 2008

New Delhi: Impressed by the unprecedented 40% growth in the domestic air traffic during the first nine months of 2007, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said 20 more civilian airports would go operational next year. Nearly 100 airports in the country would be operational in 2008 as compared against 80 now, he said on Tuesday while addressing the economic editors conference here.
Apart from greenfield projects in Bangalore and Hyderabad, several smaller airports like Durgapur and Asansol are also expected to go operational next year. Mr Patel expressed optimism over growth of cargo traffic too. “There will be enough requirement on the part of white goods manufacturers and exporters to transport flowers, perishable goods and white goods such as telephone sets and desktop computers by air in the future.
There are logistics companies such as FedEx and UPS in the US, which have over 700 aircraft and I don’t see any reason India should be far behind,” he said.
15/11/07 Economic Times

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Categories: Airports Oct 2007, New Nov 2007