Ahmedabad airport loses new international face

Ahmedabad: In what is undoubtedly disappointing news for Amdavadis, the new swanky international terminal being built at the city's Sardar Vallabhbhai Airport will now be used for domestic traffic. Officials of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said that this decision had been taken because future projections about the volume of international traffic at the airport were inaccurate.
Highly placed sources said the international terminal of the airport, once complete, would be able to handle 1,000 passengers at a time. This is more than double the airport's current capacity. However, the AAI now says that the volume of traffic needed to fully utilise the "massive additional space", is unlikely to be generated for several years to come.
Confirming the development, Union ministry of civil aviation spokesperson, Maushami Chakravarty, told DNA that the decision had been taken after considerable thought.
The proposed international terminal, which was to cost Rs300 crore, had evoked much interest when it was first announced in 2006. The terminal's design is modelled on Singapore's famed Changi airport.
29/07/09 Satish Jha/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009