Flight share plan for new Mumbai airport still up in the air

Mumbai: The bidding process for the Navi Mumbai international airport, which is expected to open in 2014, will start by August, but the government is yet to decide on how flight traffic will be shared between Mumbai’s old and new airports—an inadequacy that could hurt its prospects of attracting the interest of developers.
Traffic allocation is critical for the viability of a second airport that is being built within a 150km radius of an existing one. It will give developers a sense of the potential of the forthcoming airport.
T.C. Benjamin, Maharashtra’s principal secretary for urban development, admitted that it was important that the traffic allocation be done. “We want either a government mandate on traffic allocation or let the market forces decide. According to our estimate, the airport will break-even if it gets 10 million passengers in the first year,” said Benjamin, who also said that the initial bid document will be released next month.
Whether the government can allocate traffic between the old and the new airports is also unclear.
In New York and Chicago, the airports are owned by the same entity. In London, where the airports are owned by different entities, the airports regulator allocates the traffic.
19/07/11 P.R. Sanjai/Live Mint

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Categories: Airports Jul 2011