Growing pains on the ground

Mumbai: To be bigger, and better, airports need land-acres and acres of it. Given this non-negotiable factor, the future for slum-locked Mumbai airport looks bleak. "We are among the top 40 airports in the world in terms of passenger traffic. But for an airport of this size, we are the most constrained in terms of land availability,'' said a Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson.
At just 7.48 sq km, the city's international airport is dwarfed by its national and international counterparts. At 209.78sq km, the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is one of the largest airports in the world.
"But Mumbai's airport fails even when compared to the other airports within India. The land it occupies is only 36% of total area of Delhi airport,'' said the official. It's no wonder, then, that passengers have little to `experience' when they find themselves at Mumbai airport.
The good news, however, is that by the end of next year, the international terminal will have food courts, entertainment zones, and a children's play area. More ambitious plans will need space.
"Land scarcity is one of the prime deterring factors for Mumbai airport's development as an international hub.
Apart from having enough space to accommodate airline offices, departure areas, etc, it has to increase its non-aeronautical revenue (money from shop rentals, parking charges, etc) so that aircraft landing/parking charges, route navigation charges, and so on, remain affordable for the airlines,'' says a top airline official. The official, who worked for a South-East Asian airline in his earlier posting, says that the "land availability can make or break an airport''.
22/11/08 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Nov 2008