Airport development lags behind

New Delhi, July 22 (UNI) Airport development in the country has not kept pace with the growth of economy, passenger and cargo air traffic, a report has said.

Airport infrastructure was developed expecting a growth of 16 per cent in air transport traffic per annum, the actual growth during the last three years has been in the range of 24-28 per cent.

As a result, several major airports are congested and offer inefficient services, industry chamber PHDCCI said in a report.

''Airlines are facing infrastructure constraints due to limited landing slots, inadequate parking bays and congestion during peak hours. As the civil aviation sector is expected to see 25 per cent compounded growth in the next 10 years, civil aviation infrastructure needs faster development through public private participation mode, to be supplemented by foreign direct investment,'' PHDCCI President Sanjay Bhatia said.

The liberalisation of civil aviation policy and the entry of low cost carriers from 2002 onwards has brought about a paradigm shift in the growth of air passenger traffic.

''The new civil - aviation policy should further facilitate the entry of the new private carriers and promote healthy competition to benefit the national economy and the air passengers,'' Mr Bhatia added.

According to Government's civil aviation policy vision for 2020, the number of aircraft on scheduled operations would increase to 1,000 from the current number of 321 aircraft and the air passengers would increase to 280 million by 2020 from the current level of 95 million air passengers.

''This expected increase in the number of aircraft and air passengers would require a matching strengthening of airport infrastructure, improving management systems for providing better services, developing a large pool of skilled and technical manpower, attracting more professionals to manage the civil aviation industry in India,'' he said.

He said that regional air connectivity in the country deserves special attention as unprecedented urban infrastructure and real estate activities in Tier-II and Tier-III cities is taking place in India, particularly due to exceptionally high growth of IT and related industries.

UNI