Airports Modernisation

As many as 16 non-metro airports out of the 35 taken up by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will be completely developed by the end of 2008. The target date for the completion of the modernisation process is March 2010.
According to figures from the civil aviation ministry, airports across the country which will have undergone completion include Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Guwahati, Jaipur, Udaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore, Aurangabad, Khajuraho, Nagpur, Visakhapatnam, Trichy, Varanasi, Dehradun, Imphal and Pune.
The modernisaion of these airports includes construction of a new terminal building or upgradation of the existing terminal in these airports. The work also includes extension of runway, building of parking bays and aprons wherever necessary.
The AAI's total investment in the modernisation of these 16 airports comes to around Rs 1,840 crore. The construction and modernisation of terminals, which is the major chunk of the work, will constitute around Rs 1,360 crore.
The AAI is spending a total amount of Rs 12,434 crore on development of airport infrastructure according to the Eleventh Five Year Plan.
While the passenger and flight-handling capacity of the airports can increase by 50-100 per cent depending on whether a new terminal is being built or the existing one is upgraded, the overall capacity of the country will increase by 5-10 per cent since these airports account for very little of the total air traffic in the country.
Five companies have been shortlisted for modernisation of the Rajasansi International Airport in Amritsar. The shortlisted companies are Reliance Energy, Larsen & Toubro, Fraport AG, Tata Infrastructure, and Lanco Infrastructure.
Apart from the 35 airports taken up for modernisation, the AAI will invest around Rs 490 crore to develop 11 smaller airports like Akola, Belgaum, Cooch Behar, Gondia, Surat and Srinagar. All these airports are also projected to be developed by the end of 2008. Smaller airports like Srinagar will get an integrated terminal for international operations by next month.
Apart from that, the AAI has also taken up cityside development of 24 of the 35 airports through public-private partnership. Bids for qualification have been received for Amritsar and Udaipur airports. The Vizag airport will be the next in line to be out for bids.