Long-term master plans for 91 airports finalised: AAI Chairman

The Airports Authority of India has finalised long-term master plans for 91 airports in the country, with focus on seamless movement of passengers and future expansion. “Meticulously developed to ensure that expansion of our airports aligns seamlessly with growth and these plans eliminate any bottlenecks arising from land constraints during future expansions,” said Airports Authority of India Chairman Sanjeev Kumar in a new year message to the organisation. An airport master plan provides a framework and layout for short, medium as well as long-term planning spanning more than 20 years, keeping in mind the future needs for capacity expansion. According to the Airports Authority of India, it manages a total of 129 Airports, which include 23 international airports, 98 domestic airports and 25 civil enclaves at defense airfields and eight customs airports. “These master plans of AAI airports are the result of consistent efforts of large number of officers, engineers & technocrats over a considerable period,” said Kumar. Kumar further stated that as part of ongoing efforts to enhance capacity of airports to meet increasing passenger demand and smooth operations, the authority has devised comprehensive plans to decongest 70 airports including major airports such as Kolkata and Chennai Airports, through measures such as additional check-in and immigration counters and entry gates as well through adjustment of flights during peaks hours. With respect to the development of greenfield airports, Kumar outlined that plans are being developed for new airports at Dolo in Assam’s Silchar city and in Kota in Rajasthan. Upgradation of airports in Rewa, Datia, Satna in Madhya Pradesh and Sholapur in Maharashtra is being undertaken, while five airports in Uttar Pradesh are being operationalised again and licenses for Moradabad, Azamgarh and Aligarh have been received.<br/>