Indian airports to be intelligent buildings: AAI official

New Delhi, Feb 21 (UNI) Airports across the country are being upgraded with modern technology to tackle rising passenger traffic and improve efficiencies, a top government official said today.

Mr K Ramalingam, chairman of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), said great opportunity exists for Indian airports to achieve high technological standards in infrastructure currently being rolled out around the world.

New terminal buildings coming up in the country will be intelligent structures with sensors to switch on/off lighting and airconditioning systems, he said during the Inter Airport India international seminar and exhibition being held here.

New low-cost airlines, new city pairs and liberal bilateral with various countries have led to unprecedented boom in passenger traffic, said Mr Ramalingam who is in charge of managing 127 airports in India.

''Increased passenger and cargo traffic requires improvements to existing infrastructure, upgrading metro and non-metro airports, developing greenfield airports, introduction of modern technology to improve efficiency and upgrading its CNS/ATM (communication, navigation and surveillance/airspace and traffic management) facilities.'' He said airports in future will have common use self-service (CUSS) kiosks for e-ticketed passengers.

Meanwhile, civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla called for pro-active participation by the private sector for development of airports, which he described are visible symbols of a country's progress.

He said the aviation sector is poised for exponential growth in coming years due to increased aspirations and purchasing power of people.

UNI