India airports consider no-frills terminals

New Delhi: Indian developers are looking to build no-frills terminals to help cash strapped carriers cope with massive fuel prices.
The founder of low-cost carrier Air Deccan, GR Gopinath, mooted the idea some time ago but it was not well received. Back then, budget passenger traffic was growing more than 25 per cent a year and the industry was turning in a profit.
But soaring oil prices have changed things. Carriers are bleeding red ink and have had to hoist fares, leading to a big drop in business.
No-frills terminals at existing airports in India's main cities - Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai - are now seen as a possible answer to keep costs down.
In Europe and the US, low-cost carriers take off from secondary airports or during off-peak hours from main airports to help keep landing, parking and airport charges lower. India's major airport developer GMR Group wants to build a no-frills terminal at Hyderabad airport by 2011-12.
And a similar terminal has been suggested for Delhi international airport, which GMR is renovating. The joint venture (JV) company that runs the new 25 billion rupee (S$792.5 million) Bangalore International Airport is also looking at adding a low-cost terminal.
The boss of the JV between the Karnataka government and the Airports Authority of India, Siemens Projects Ventures, Larsen and Toubro and Unique Zurich Airport says the proposal will be discussed this month.
03/07/08 Siddharth Srivastava/The Business Times/AsiaOne, Singapore

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Categories: Airports Jul 2008, New Jul 2008