Jewar airport may take off with Ajit Singh as aviation minister

Lucknow: With RLD chief Ajit Singh taking over as the new Union civil aviation minister, hope has been kindled for Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s long-cherished dream of having a greenfield Taj international airport and aviation hub (TIAH) at Jewar, near the national capital. The question whether a new airport should be allowed within 70 km of an existing airport, as it may hamper the business prospects of the existing one, has come in the way of the proposed airport in Greater Noida.
Proposed way back in 2001, the aviation hub was conceptualised to ease traffic at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The project was also given a techno-feasibility clearance by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2003, during Mayawati’s earlier stint as chief minister. However, innumerable efforts of the state government in the last four-and-a-half years to get the project off the ground have borne little fruit and according to senior officials, the only reason for the project not seeing the light of day is the Centre’s objection.
“Despite the fact that traffic figures prove that a second airport near Delhi is indeed essential, the Centre has refused to give a go-ahead on it. But now that we have a new civil aviation minister, and that too from the region where this airport is to come up, we hope that he is able to convince the Centre on the need and importance of the airport for the people of his region,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
21/12/11 Deepa Jainani/Financial Express

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: airports Dec 2011, New Dec 2011