IATA opposes plans for second airport in New Delhi

Last week civil aviation ministry gave nod to to construct second airport for Delhi

International Air Transport Association is not in favour of civil aviation ministry proposal to develop a second airport in New Delhi capital region until the existing Delhi airport reaches saturation.

Last week the civil aviation ministry gave its nod to to construct second airport for Delhi. The proposal would be sent to the union cabinet for approval, minister of state for civil aviation Mahesh Sharma said last week. The second airport is likely to come up in Jewar in Noida which happens to be Sharma's Lok Sabha constituency.

However IATA which represents over 250 airlines globally, has given a thumbs down to this plan.

"In general the preferred option is to have a single airport serving a particular city. Having a single airport will grow Delhi as an aviation hub as it makes it convenient for passengers making flight connections. Airlines can focus all their resource in one location. And there would be greater efficiencies in not having to duplicate services, as in the case of air traffic control and the fire services," IATA spokesperson Albert Tjoeng said in an email response.



"The primary consideration for Delhi should be on maximizing the capacity at Indira Gandhi International Airport. It is only after all capacity expansion options have been exhausted - if there is no more land available for additional runways or terminals, and no more efficiencies can be added to the terminal (through expansion or using technology) - should a second airport be considered," he added.

According to aviation industry sources traffic at Delhi airport is expected to grow 5.1 percent on a compound annual growth rate. Delhi airport handled 41 million passengers in FY 2015 and is expected to handle 62.5 million passengers in 2020-21 and 100 million by 2030-31 as per the master plan.

Delhi airport is managed by GMR-group run Delhi International Airport Limited. "In case of Delhi airport further land acquisition is not necessary. There is ample scope for capacity expansion at the existing airport and it is nowhere near saturation," said an aviation analyst.