125 operational airports in 5 yrs: Patel

New Delhi: India may have 125 operational airports in the next five years if the momentum of building private airports continues. The government would continue its effort to build an aviation grid of one airport in every 50-100 km amid global recession, minister of state (independent charge) for civil aviation Praful Patel told SundayET.
“The number of operational airports has already gone up from 50 in 2004 to 85 now. Yes, the aviation sector in India has gone through a rough patch as passenger traffic has come down by at least 30% compared to last year. Yet, we are continuing to build better infrastructure which is the backbone for the sector to grow. We are confident that India will have 125 operational airports in the next five years,” the minister said.
This is despite the fact that out of 85 airports currently operating, only 15 are actually profit-making but the government still invests to make them safe and efficient. Moreover, there has also been an increase in the number of aircraft from 150 in 2004 to about 400 now.
In fact, the projects in the pipeline include the Navi Mumbai airport near Panvel, Chakan airport in Pune, a second airport in Goa, Kannur airport in Kerala, new airport in the Durgapur-Asansol area, Ludhiana airport and one in Sikkim to name a few.
23/08/09 Lisa Mary Thomson & Shantanu Nandan Sharma/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports Aug 2009, New Aug 2009