Expansion of runways at small airports delayed

New Delhi: State governments are not providing additional land to airports for expanding runways, a move which is delaying the expansion plan of several small airports in the country, a senior official said.
According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), there are 17 airports across the country that have short runways - less than 7,000 feet - which make landing and take-off of big aircraft like Boeing and Airbus risky.
These include airports at Vijaywada (Andhra Pradesh), Gaya (Bihar), Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), Jaipur, Udaipur (Rajasthan), Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Bhopal, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Cooch Behar (West Bengal) and Pondicherry.
"The work on these projects was scheduled to start from April this year but the lackadaisical approach of the state governments was delaying the work," an AAI official said on condition of anonymity. However, runway expansion works at Madurai and Trichy airports in Tamil Nadu, and Guwahati and Silchar airports in Assam have begun.
There are few other Indian Air Force airports also, where runway expansion was planned but did not take off. "We are yet to get a formal clearance and additional land from the defence ministry," the official added. These include airports at Dibrugarh (Assam) and Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir.
14/09/08 IANS/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports Sep 2008