AAI mulling over connecting 22 airports under Regional Connectivity Scheme

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is mulling over connecting about 22 airports under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in the first phase.

Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra, the chairman of Airports Authority of India, expressed hope of making airfares affordable to encourage flying among the masses.

He said another 30 airports can be made ready for operations under the scheme by making some investments.

He was also of the opinion that very less population of the Indian middle class, who have high aspirations, travel by air.

"There are little more than 400 commercial aircrafts as compared to other countries that have 3to 4k aircrafts. Approximately in a country of 100 crore people, only eight crore people travel by air annually and it's a small number.

So, the government's idea is to promote flying among masses in safe and affordable manner and that is the USP of our regional connectivity." said Mohapatra.

He further said the AAI would spend Rs. 17,500 crore as capital expenditure over a period till 2019-20 of which significant amount is for strengthening air navigation services (ANS) capabilities. The money would also be spent on building airport terminals and expanding runways at many existing airports.

The AAI is also planning to build 50 no-frills airports across the country.