AAI hopeful of developing 20 airports in next five years

Official says AAI Board also considering a master plan proposal for Tiruchirappalli airport

Airport Authority of India (AAI) is considering developing 20 airports in the next five years, according to a senior official.

"Subject to cooperation from the respective state governments and access to suitable sites free of cost, AAI is hopeful of developing 20 airports in the next five years," G K Chaukiyal, member (operations), AAI told reporters here yesterday.

"With the government's policy of special focus on the development of airports in tier-II towns and the ambitious policy of providing airports in every district headquarters – about 450 of them before the year 2020, AAI has started identifying the towns and accepting proposals from various state governments," he said.

Chaukiyal said the AAI Board is also considering a master plan proposal for Tiruchirappalli airport with components of additional terminal building, extension of passenger handling capacity from the present 400 to 700 and an additional air traffic control tower subject to the state government handing over the requisite land adjoining the present airport.

In the last five years, AAI had developed and upgraded 58 airports, including 35 non-metro airports.

Chaukiyal said Tiruchirappalli has secured the second rank in the country on the customer satisfaction index among the 52 airports handling less than 1.5 million passengers a year, next only to Jodhpur.

He said that among 125 airports maintained by AAI in the country, only 10 are in the list of profit generation.