The government plans to develop the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the Capital as the country’s first international hub airport and is conducting a feasibility study for the same, civil aviation minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia said. “We are conducting a feasibility study on stakeholder collaboration and multi-modal connectivity – to, from and within the airport — and working to ensure that minimum connect time is reduced to globally acceptable levels,” Scindia told Fe.
The study is likely to be over by next month.
Apart from Delhi, airports at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram also have the potential to be developed as hub airports.
An international hub airport synergises the domestic and international airports in a manner that passengers can transit from one to the other in a seamless manner.
For this, the airport requires metro, road and highway connectivity as well as strong airline networks spanning both the domestic and international destinations.
At present, there are no international hub airports in the country and a substantial number of passengers from India transit via such facilities located in Middle East and Southeast Asia.
“Recently, Delhi Airport became the first airport in India to not only have a fourth runway but also an elevated cross taxiway. DigiYatra at the airport for domestic passengers is already showing positive results,” Scindia said.
The minister had earlier said that airlines are adding future capacity via aircraft acquisition and the government as well as the private sector are building physical infrastructure such as airports to maintain the sector’s exponential growth.
Recently, both IndiGo and Air India have placed massive orders for aircraft purchases. IndiGo has ordered 500 jets from Airbus to secure its capacity needs till 2035. Air India has placed orders for 470 Boeing and Airbus aircraft for around $70 billion.
