Modi govt wants private players in small Indian airports

Policy tweaked to ensure return on investment for private players and revenue for AAI

An executive with a leading soft drink giant was visibly upset when he had to catch a flight from Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Lucknow, recently. “There is hardly any place to sit, washrooms are dirty, it’s not a happy experience,” he said. 

Although long queues at check-in counters are common across Indian airports now, air traffic from non-metro cities has multiplied exponentially over the last five years due to a booming middle class and cheap ticket prices. In fact, a study conducted by travel portal MakeMyTrip states about one-fourth of domestic air traffic in India comes from metros, while