17 airports accorded International Status

So far, seventeen airports in the country have been accorded “International Status”. These airports are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Calicut, Chennai, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Goa, Port Blair and Srinagar. Of these, eight airports, namely, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Calicut, Chennai, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram belong to Airports Authority of India (AAI) and three Civil Enclaves, namely, Goa, Port Blair and Srinagar are maintained by AAI. AAI provides CNS / ATM services for five airports managed by Joint Venture Companies at Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Nagpur and for one private airport at Kochi. At Goa, Port Blair and Srinagar, which belong to Defence, AAI only maintains Civil Enclaves and CNS/ATM services are provided by Defence. In addition, Tirupathi airport has been declared as an international airport subject to the condition that the international airport may be made operational only after requisite facilities have been put in place.
Some airports are notified as Customs airports which can also cater to international flights. The customs airports are Varanasai, Tiruchirapalli (Trichy), Patna, Mangalore, Lucknow, Gaya, Coimbatore and Pune (civil enclave).
This information was given by the Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel in Lok Sabha today.
Declaration of an airport as an “International Airport” needs fulfillment of certain parameters which meet the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) stipulated by the Director General of Civil Aviation in India / International Civil Aviation Organization (Annex 9 Facilitation). These parameters are (i) Runway length should be 9000 feet or more to cater to at least medium capacity long-range aircraft or equivalent type of aircraft, as these aircraft constitute majority of aircraft used in international operations, (ii) Availability of Ground Lighting Facilities, Instrument Landing System, for operation of aircrafts at night, (iii)International sector traffic potential, (iv) Requirement /demand from Scheduled National /International Airline Operators, (v)Availability of Customs, Immigration, Health, animal and plant quarantine services, (vi) Bilateral agreement between the States (Nations) under which it may be offered as a point-of-call to foreign carriers for operations, (vii) International Cargo Complex, and (viii)Adequate size of terminal building to handle international and transit passengers. Based on the above parameters and approval of Union Cabinet an airport is declared international airport.
Various passenger facilities made available at the International Airports belonging to Airports Authority of India (AAI) which include both airports and civil enclaves are; Bank / Money Exchange, Postal / telegram facilities, Air Insurance, Prepaid taxi service and car rental, Free passenger luggage trolleys, Tourist Information, Hotel Booking, Retiring room accommodation, Restaurant / Snack bars, Drinking water with disposable glasses, Duty Free shopping, Separate toilets for ladies, gents and physically challenged persons, Flight information display system with public address system, Passenger information and guidance signages, PCOs for local / STD / ISD calls (manned and unmanned), Reserved Lounge as per entitlement, Child care / infant lobby, Service for Lost & found property, Redressal of Grievance Cell in Duty Manager’s office, Conveyor belts for baggage handling, Escalators and elevators, First aid facility, Car parking and car hailer and Entertainment TV etc. In addition, AAI has also provided Precision Approach Runways and associated facilities like Night Landing facilities, Instrument Approach Landing System, etc. with round-the-clock operations.
10/12/09 PRESS RELEASE/Press Information Bureau

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009