"India must increase airport capacity"

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

India must increase airport capacity
By RAJESH MAHAPATRA
The Associated Press


NEW DELHI -- India needs to quickly increase capacity and improve air
traffic control at the country's two major airports - New Delhi and Bombay -
to ensure safety and sustain the country's air travel boom, the
International Air Transport Association said Tuesday.

IATA Director General and Chief Executive Giovanni Bisignani said the
association expects air travel in India to expand about 15 percent annually
over the next four years, but growth could falter if the country's airport
infrastructure doesn't catch up.

"There is an emergency situation. I really believe the government has to act
very quickly, within the next one year," Bisignani said.

The airports in New Delhi and Bombay handle 63 percent of India's air
traffic, and flights are often forced to circle in the air while waiting for
a landing slot. Also, about one-third of all planes must wait at least 15 to
20 minutes after landing until getting approval to head to the terminal.

Air travel is booming in India. Several budget carriers launched in the past
year are attracting first-time flyers, and officials expect there to be 50
million passengers in India by 2010 from 14 million now.

With an outdated, short-staffed air-traffic control system, the worst fear
is that a signal mix-up could lead to a mid-air collision.

"I am not saying the airports in Bombay and New Delhi are not safe. But six
months into the next year, you could start having safety problems,"
Bisignani told reporters during a visit to New Delhi.

The state-run Airport Authority of India, which operates the airports, has
invested little in upgrading infrastructure over the past eight years amid
debates over whether the airports should be handed over to private managers.

Earlier this year, the government called for bids from private companies to
modernize and operate the two airports. But that process, aviation experts
say, could take years.

Meanwhile, Bisignani urged the government to improve the efficiency of the
existing infrastructure. Otherwise, he said, the momentum seen in India's
aviation sector could be lost, especially when airlines are battling rising
fuel costs.

"It would be a pity that you are limiting growth because you can't put the
infrastructure in place," he said.

 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************