India preps plan to double airports to 300 by 2047: report

Eyeing an eightfold increase in passenger traffic by 2047, India is readying plans to double the number of operational airports from the current 148 to at least 300, Mint reported, citing officials aware of the Airports Authority of India’s (AAI’s) plans.

The AAI’s draft National Airport Development Plan projects annual passenger numbers to increase to 3-3.5 billion by 2047 from the current 376 million, the report said, adding that international traffic will account for 10-12% of the expected rise in air travelers, with the rest being domestic travelers.

About 70 airstrips will be built to accommodate narrow-body aircraft such as Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, the report said, citing the draft plan, with 40 airstrips to be developed to serve smaller aircraft.

There will be an option for greenfield airports in areas where no civilian airport exists within a 50km radius and where the development of airstrips at the nearest airstrip is impossible, the report added.

The government said in December that it was creating capacity at airports in six metro cities and that, in the second phase, capacity will be created at ten more airports, including Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Goa, Patna, Guwahati, Lucknow, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Kochi.

In 2022, the ministry of civil aviation announced ₹25,000 crore capital expenditure till 2027 for the construction of new terminals, expansion and modification of existing terminals, expansion and strengthening of existing runways, aprons, airport navigation services infrastructure, and control towers.

Through public private partnerships (PPP), airports at Hyderabad and Bengaluru are undertaking major expansion projects of up to ₹30,000 crore by 2025.

The civil aviation ministry has announced an additional ₹36,000 crore  to develop greenfield airports across the country under PPP mode.