An Overview
The government owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) operates 125 airports and civil enclaves out of a total of 449 airports and airstrips located throughout India. The cities of Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi and Mumbai are served by privately (or joint-venture) operated airports. All operational airports handled a total of 116.9 million passengers (87.1 m domestic and 29.8 m international) in the year ended March 2008. Total aircraft movements amounted to 1.31 million and freight volumes increased to over 1.7 million tons.
Privatization and Airport Modernisation
Mumbai and Delhi airports handled 25.2 million and 23.3 m passengers respectively in 2007 and were ranked the world's 55th and 61st busiest airports respectively for the year 2006. Mumbai airport handled a record of 2.34 m passengers in Dec 07. Both airports have more or less reached saturation points during peak hours and need to have their capacities increased to cater to any major growth in the future. Passenger traffic at Delhi airport grew by a massive 28.4 %, the highest annual growth rate among the world's top 100 airports¹ in 2006. The modernisation costs for the two airports has been estimated at Rs 89 bn (phase I) for Delhi and Rs 76 bn for Mumbai. A greenfield airport located in Navi Mumbai is being planned for Mumbai as the scope to expand the current airport at Santa Cruz is limited in the long run due to its location amidst dense urban habitation and lack of land (total area 2,000 acres). The airport is surrounded by slums on one side and these have to be relocated.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed an initial 30-year OMDA (Operation, Management and Development Agreement) with GMR-Fraport AG and GVK-ACSA (Airports Company of South Africa) led consortiums to develop and expand the airports at Delhi and Mumbai. The Mott MacDonald Group has been appointed as the technical advisor for the Delhi airport modernisation project. HOK International has been appointed to design the airport. The proposed 480,000 m² integrated terminal 3 with 55 airbridges (six of which are designed to accomodate Airbus A380 aircraft) and 30 remote stands at Delhi will have an initial capacity to handle upto 37 million passengers per annum. Terminal 3 is expected to be commissioned in April 2010. A third ILS Cat. IIIb runway (11R/29L and 4,430 m long) is now operational. A new interim domestic terminal (1B), located between the current domestic terminals 1A (used by Indian and Kingfisher) and the inadequate terminal 1B (used by all the other domestic airlines), is also construction. The terminal is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2008. The current international terminal 2 is also being modernised. A highspeed rail link connecting the airport with New Delhi station is projected to be ready in 2010. Delhi IGIA airport is India's busiest handling around 680 flights per day.
Mumbai's Sahar airport is being modernised and expanded to cater to the growing number of passengers. An integrated terminal with a total floor area of approx. 500,000 m² and a capacity to handle 40 m passengers annually is going to be built in phases. The first phase will open in 2010 while the final phase is expected to be ready by 2012. The airport handles around 650 commercial and military/general aviation landings and takeoffs a day.
Kolkata, Amritsar, Jaipur, Udaipur, Dibrugarh, Tiruchirapalli, Srinagar, Leh, Jammu, Coimbatore, Nagpur (new pax terminal and MRO facilities) and Thiruvananthapuram (new terminal and an Air India B737 MRO facility) are some of the airports where new terminals have been planned or existing facilities will be modernised and expanded. A new 35,000 m² international terminal is operating Kozhikode's Karipur airport. The terminal features inline x-ray machines for the first time in India. Visakhapatnam's airport will feature a new passenger terminal with an annual handling capacity of 3 m passengers and a total floor area of ca 20,000 m² once commissioned in mid-2008. Vizag's airport like Goa's Dabolim, is controlled by the Indian Navy. A new Rs 1.5 bn integrated passenger terminal has been planned for Mangalore's Bajpe airport, which became an international airport with the launch of a thrice-weekly Air India Express flight to Dubai. A new 17,500 m² terminal is planned for Madurai airport which like many other small and medium-sized airports (passenger volumes) across India has witnessed two-digit growth rates during the past couple of years. A new greenfield airport at Pekyong in the north-eastern state of Sikkim, the only Indian state currently without air connections, has been planned at an estimated cost of Rs 3.2 bn. The airfield will be capable of handling upto ATR turboprop sized aircraft.These are examples of a plan by AAI to modernise and expand 35 non-metro and various other airports at an estimated total cost of Rs 124 bn (including Kolkata and Chennai airports) during the next five years.
¹ ACI Annual Traffic Statistics - 2006
Kolkata and Chennai Airport Upgradation
Kolkata airport is being modernised at an approx. cost of Rs 20 bn. An integral part of the modernisation plan is a new 180,000 m² integrated passenger terminal with a capacity to handle 20 million passengers a year (Kolkata's present terminals were designed to handle 5 m passengers a year). The new terminal is expected to be ready in 2011. The terminal is designed by RJMM. The airport's air traffic control and surveillance systems will also be modernised and the secondary runway will be extended to 3 239 m. Chennai's airport modernisation is underway with an investment of approx. Rs 18 bn including a new domestic terminal and an additional capacity to the present international terminall with a total capacity to handle 23 m passengers annually. A proposed new greenfield airport located at Sriperumbudur is also under study in Chennai.
Private Airports
Bengaluru International Airport
The new Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL), located approx. 40 kms north of Bangalore city at Devanahalli off the NH 7 highway began commercial operations on May 24th '08. Construction of the estimated Rs 25 bn airport, spread over an area of over 3,800 acres, began in 2005. Equity shareholders in the airport include Siemen Project Ventures GmbH (40% stake), Unique Zurich Airport (17%), Larsen & Toubro (17%), Airports Authority of India (13 %) and the Govt. of Karnataka through KSIIDC (13 %). The rectangular shaped modern integrated terminal has a total floor space of 71,000 m² making it one India's largest passenger air terminal buildings. The apron can hold upto 42 aircraft at a time, including nine in-contact stands. Although the airport has a capacity to handle 11.4 million passengers a year, expansion of passenger facilities could follow very soon oncer the airport begins operations. Bangalore's HAL airport handled a record 9.93 million passengers in 2007.
A major concern is access to the airport as it is located some 40 kms from the city. A fleet of modern buses provide transport on several routes covering all the major points in the city. The buses are operated by BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation). Dedicated airport taxis also serve passengers. A high-speed 34 km long rail corridor linking B R V Grounds (off MG Road in central Bangalore) with the airport has been proposed but will only be operational earliest 2012 or so, that is if the the project gets rolling and actual implementation proceeds without too much delay. An Oberoi Trident hotel located neart the passenger terminal will be ready by the end of the year.
Hyderabad International Airport
The new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport covering a total area of 5,495 acres at Shamshabad near Hyderabad began commercial operations on March 23 '08. The cost of the first phase is estimated at Rs 23 billion. HIAL's stakeholders include the GMR Group, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, AAI (Airports Authority of India) and the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. The airport's initial passenger handling capacity is 12 million, which is roughly double the the number of passengers handled (6.78 m in 2007) at the old Begumpet Airport. The integrated terminal covers an area of 105,000 m² (roughly the size of Mumbai airport's terminals 2A and 2C combined). The apron includes 42 airplane stands of which 12 are in-contact (aerobridge). The runway is currently South Asia's longest at 4,260 meters. As with the soon to be opened new Bangalore airport, airport access to the new airport at Hyderabad, located around 25 km's from central Hyderabad, could pose as a serious transit bottleneck as proper road access to the airport is still under construction. A dedicated fleet of 30 buses provides transport from four pick-up points in the city. The bus service is provided by Raj Airport Express. Public taxis arel also be available. An elevated expressway aligned along NH 7 is under construction and when completed should ease access to the airport. An 308 room Accor Novotel hotel is coming up next to the airport. Air-India and Lufthansa Technik are building MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities at the airport.
News Videos on HIAL:
>> IBNLive: Hyderabad's new airport gets ready for takeoff
>> IBNLive: Hyderabad gets new airport but no roads to get there
Cochin International Airport
Cochin International Airport (CIAL) is currently India's sole privately run airport. CIAL's turnover was close to Rs 1 bn in FY2005.
An expansion of the international terminal is underway which will eventually increase the total built-up area to 480 000 sq feet. The airport handled around 80 aircraft movements per daily during April to November 2006, an increase of almost 50 per cent.
A recently announced Rs 35 bn expansion plan for Cochin airport include setting up of an aviation academy, an MRO facility and hotels to mention a few.
Above pics: Cochin International Airport (CIAL) as seen after take off. A 3,400 m long parallel taxiway, not seen in the image, is now operational. CIAL handles the fourth most international air passengers (1.77 m in 2007-08) among all the Indian airports. The domestic terminal, although compact, is clean and well organized (nice shopping arcade) handled an average of 61 daily arrivals and departures in the year ended March 2008. CIAL handled a total of 3.34 million passengers in the same year making it India's seventh busiest airport. 25 airlines serve the airport. A maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility and aviation training academy are being planned for the future.
| Major Airports of India Data (under construction) | |
|---|---|
| Mumbai - Chhatrapati Shivaji International | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | BOM/VABB |
| Elevation: | 11 m |
| Runways (intersecting): | Heading 27-09 asphalt 3 489 x 45 m (11 446 ft) ILS CAT-I Heading 14/32, 2 925 x 45 m (9 596 ft), ILS CAT I, asphalt |
| Terminals: | Terminal 1A, 1B, 2A-C |
| Aircraft stands: | 90 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 14/5 |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | Aeroflot (767), Air Arabia (320), Air France (B777), Air India/Air India Express (A310, B747, B737, B777, B767), Air Mauritius (767), Alitalia (767), ANA (B737), Austrian (767), British AW (B747/B777), Cathay Pacific (777), Delta (B777), EgyptAir (A330), El Al (767), Emirates (A330), Ethiopian (757), Etihad (A340), EVA Air (B747), Finnair (A340), Gulf Air (B767, A320), Indian/Alliance (A320, A300, B737), IndiGo (A320), Iran Air (747SP), Jazeera AW (A320), Jet AW (A330, B777, B737, ATR), Kenya AW (B767), Kingfisher (A320), Korean (A330), Kuwait (A300), Lufthansa (B744), Malaysia (B777), Northwest (A330), Oman Air (B737), Pakistan Int'l (B747), Qantas (A330), Qatar (A320), Royal Jordanian (A320), Royal Nepal (B757), Saudi Arabian (B747), Singapore (B777), South African (A340), SriLankan (A320), Swiss (A330), Syrian Arab (B747), Thai (A330), Turkish (A310), Virgin Atlantic (A340), Yemenia (A330) |
| Direct Routes (International): | Abu Dhabi, Addis Ababa, Amman, Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bahrain, Bangkok, Brussels, Cairo, Colombo, Damascus, Damman, Darwin, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Los Angeles, Madinah, Mauritius, Milan, Minneapolis, Moscow, Muscat, Nairobi, Newark, New York City, Paris, Riyadh, Sana'a, Seattle, Seoul, Sharjah, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tehran, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Vienna and Zurich |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
 A bird's eyeview of the Mumbai airport international crescent-shaped (ca 700 m long) terminal complex (adjacent terminals 2A, 2B and 2C from left to right) from a height of 797 m. A section of the cargo complex can be seen to the left of the terminal. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
The above video includes a good view of the extensive international and domestic aprons at Sahar airport, Juhu airstrip and Juhu beach with its row of seafront hotels. | |
| Delhi - Indira Gandhi International | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | DEL/VIDP |
| Elevation: | 237 m |
| Runways (parallel): | 10/28, 3 810 x 46 m (12 500 ft), Rwy 28 ILS CAT-IIIB, Rwy 10 ILS CAT-I, asphalt 09/27, 2 813 x 46 m (9 229 ft), Rwy 27 ILS CAT-I, asphalt 11/29, 4 430 x 60 m, ILS CAT-IIIB, asphalt |
| Terminals: | Terminal 1A (IA/CD): 14 700 m², 1B: 11 700 m², 2 (Int'l): 71 000 m² |
| Aircraft stands: | 69 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 9/- |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | Aeroflot(IL9), AeroSvit, Air Astana (B757), Air Canada (B767), Air China (B767), Air Deccan (ATR,A320), Air France (B747), Air India (B747, B777, A310), Air India Express (B737), Air Mauritius, Air Sahara (CRJ,B737), Alitalia (B767), American, Ariana, Asiana (B777), Austrian (B767), Bangladesh Biman (DC10), British AW (B747/B777), Cathay Pacific (A330), China AL, China Eastern, China Southern, Continental (B777), Cosmic Air (F100), Druk Air (A319), Emirates (B777), Etihad, Ethiopian (B767), Finnair (M11), Galaxy (IL18), GMG (MD82), Gulf Air (A320, B767), Indian/Alliance (A319,A320,B737), IndiGo (A320), JAL, Jazeera AW, Jet AW (B777, B737, ATR, A330), Kam Air, Kingfisher (A320,A321), KLM (B777), Kuwait AW (A300), Kyrghyzstan (TU154), Lufthansa (A330, B744), Mahan Air (A320), Malaysia (A330), Oman Air, Pakistan Intl (B737, B747), Qatar AW(A330), Royal Jordanian (A310), Royal Nepal (B757), Saudi Arabian, Singapore (B777), SpiceJet (B737), SriLankan (A320), Swiss, Syrian Arab, Tajikistan, Thai AW, Turkish, Turkmenistan (B737), Uzbekistan, Virgin Atlantic (A340) |
| Direct Routes (International): | Abu Dhabi, Addis Ababa, Almaty, Amman, Amsterdam, Ashgabat, Bahrain, Bandar Abbas, Bangkok, Beijing, Bishkek, Brussels, Chicago, Colombo, Damascus, Damman, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Dushanbe, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jeddah, Kabul, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kiev, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Lahore, London, Madinah, Mauritius, Milan, Munich, Muscat, Moscow, Newark, New York, Paro, Paris, Riyadh, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Tashkent, Tehran, Tokyo, Vienna and Zurich |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
 A full bird's eyeview of Delhi IGIA airport from a height of 4 km. The international terminal is located near the bottom left corner and the two domestic terminals on the rightside sandwiched between the two parallel runways (9/27 is the upper runway while 10/28 is the lower one). The two runways are now in simultaneous use (first time in India) during peak hours. New rapid taxiways have been constructed to facilitate speedier ground movement of aircraft. A new integrated terminal 3 and a domestic terminal are currently under construction. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
| Chennai | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | MAA/VOMM |
| Elevation: | 16 m |
| Runways (intersecting): | 07/25, 3 658 x 45 m (12 001 ft) (ILS available on runway 07), asphalt 12/30, 2 032 x 45 m (6 666 ft), concrete/asphalt/macadam |
| Terminals: | International: 22 000 m², Domestic |
| Aircraft stands: | 37 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 5/3 |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | Air France,Air Mauritius, British AW (B777), Delta (B767), Emirates, Gulf Air (B767), Kuwait, Lufthansa (B744), Malaysia, Oman Air, Qatar AW, Saudi Arabian, Singapore, SriLankan, Thai AW, Tiger AW |
| Direct Routes (International): | Bahrain, Bangkok, Colombo, Damman, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Mauritius, Muscat, New York, Paris, Riyadh and Singapore |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
 A full bird's eyeview of the terminals and the approx. 900 m wide apron area of Chennai airport as would be seen from a height of 556 m. The international Anna terminal is located to the left of the Kamaraj domestic terminal. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
| Bangalore - HAL | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | |
| Elevation: | 888 m (2 914 ft) |
| Runway: | 09/27, 3 306 x 61 m, ILS |
| Terminals: | - |
| Aircraft stands: | 13 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 2 |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | no commercial operations |
| Direct Routes (International): | no commercial operations |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
 A bird's eyeview of the terminal area and HAL complex of Bangalore HAL airport from a height of 730 m. Commercial airline traffic ended on May 23rh 2008 with the opening of the new Bengaluru International airport at Devanahalli to the north of the city. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
| Kolkata - Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International | |
| Short Video Clips - Copyright Timir Mozumder
| |
 A bird's eyeview of the Kolkata NSCB airport. A daylight departure on runway 19L would give a better view of Bidhan Nagar and even central Kolkata if the destination of the flight happens to be to the west or north of Kolkata as the aircraft changes . Great vistas await the air traveller on a flight to eg Yangon, Port Blair or Bangkok once the awesome Sundarbans (abode of the Royal Bengal Tiger) river delta area comes into view some minutes after take-off. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
 An air traveller arriving at NSCB can enjoy the extremely lush and verdant landscape as well as the somewhat densely populated low-rise residential suburban municipalities such as Barasat, Madhyamgram and New Barrackpur as the aircraft makes a final approach toward runway 19L. The busy Jessore Road hugs the boundary of the airport. © 2005 Google | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | CCU/VECC |
| Elevation: | 5 m |
| Runways (parallel): | 01R/19L, 3 627 x 46 m (11 899 ft), 19L-ILS Cat II, asphalt 01L/19R, 2 399 (2 839 m once the north end extension is completed) x 46 m (7 870 ft), asphalt. A 440 m extension at the north end is now almost ready. ILS Cat I has been proposed on the secondary runway. |
| Terminals: | International - 30 000 m² Domestic - 23 000 m² |
| Aircraft stands: | 24 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 1/3 |
| Int'l Operators (Type of aircraft): | Bangladesh Biman (F28, A310), British AW (B777), China Eastern, Cosmic Air (Fokker F-100), Druk Air (A320), Emirates (A330), GMG Airlines (MD82), Gulf Air (A320), Lufthansa (A330), Singapore Airlines (B777), Thai (A300/330) |
| Domestic Operators (Type of aircraft): | Air India, Indian, Alliance, Jet Airways, JetLite, Deccan, Kingfisher, SpiceJet, Indigo |
| Direct Routes (International): | Dhaka, Dubai, Chittagong, Paro, Kathmandu, Kuming, Yangon, Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Muscat, London, Frankfurt, Bahrain |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
 A bird's eyeview of the Kolkata NSCB airport terminal complex from a height of 375 m. The bottom lower one is the domestic terminal, opened in 1995. NSCB airport is nowadays a lot busier than it was a couple of decades ago (known as Dum Dum airport at the time) when it handled less than half of its current traffic (170-180 movements/day). Twenty or so aircraft can be seen parked on the apron prior to peak hour departure periods. Domestic carriers must also use the international apron as bays are limited on the domestic apron. © 2005 Google | |
| Hyderabad - Rajiv Gandhi International Airport | |
| Elevation: | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | HYD/VOHS |
| Runway: | 09/27, 4,260 x 60 m, ILS Cat I |
| Terminals: | Rajiv Gandhi Int'l: 105,000 m² |
| Aircraft stands: | 42 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 12 |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | Emirates, KLM, Kuwait, Lufthansa (A340), Malaysia, Oman Air, Qatar AW, Saudi Arabian, Singapore, SriLankan, Thai AW |
| Direct Routes (International): | Amsterdam, Bangkok, Colombo, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Muscat, Riyadh, Singapore |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
| Hyderabad - Begumpet (closed for commercial operations) | |
| Elevation: | 531 m |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | -/VOHY |
| Runway: | 09/27, 3103 x 45 m (10180 ft), asphalt |
| Terminals: | Rajiv Gandhi Int'l: 16 000 m², NTR domestic: 11 500 m² |
| Aircraft stands: | 9 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 2/2 |
 A bird's eyeview of the terminal (previously Rajiv Gandhi international and NTR domestic) area of Hyderabad (Begumpet) airport which is now closed for commercial operations. | |
| India's 25 Busiest Airports in 2007-08 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airport | IATA Code | Million Passengers | Aircraft Movements | Aircraft Movements/day | Cargo in tons |
| 1. Mumbai | BOM | 25.86 | 232,509 | 650 (Apr-Jun '08) | 533,492 |
| 2. Delhi | DEL | 23.97 | 213,568 | 680 (Apr-Jun '08) | 432,863 |
| 3. Chennai | MAA | 10.66 | 115,865 | 317 | 270,608 |
| 4. Bangalore | BLR | 10.12 | 113,598 | 311 | 163,766 |
| 5. Kolkata | CCU | 7.46 | 80,703 | 221 | 83,523 |
| 6. Hyderabad | HYD | 6.99 | 81,972 | 224 | 44,667 |
| 7. Kochi (CIAL) | COK | 3.34 | 38,825 | 106 | 21,389 |
| 8. Ahmedabad | AMD | 3.16 | 34,597 | 95 | 20,389 |
| 9. Goa (Dabolim) | GOI | 2.58 | 23,073 | 63 | 4,969 |
| 10. Thiruvananthapuram | TRV | 2.10 | 24,083 | 66 | 32,105 |
| 11. Pune | PNQ | 1.68 | 17,183 | 47 | 13,043 |
| 12. Guwahati | GAU | 1.35 | 24,445 | 67 | 2,062 |
| 13. Jaipur | JAI | 1.34 | 18,344 | 50 | 2,934 |
| 14. Kozhikode | CCJ | 1.33 | 15,263 | 42 | 9,394 |
| 15. Coimbatore | CJB | 1.06 | 16,563 | 45 | 4,793 |
| 16. Nagpur | NAG | 0.85 | 13,328 | 37 | 4,062 |
| 17. Srinagar | SXR | 0.79 | 7,988 | 22 | 1,905 |
| 18. Port Blair | IXZ | 0.78 | 7,888 | 22 | 1,962 |
| 19. Lucknow | LKO | 0.72 | 9,972 | 27 | 1,787 |
| 20. Mangalore | IXE | 0.71 | 9,362 | 26 | 396 |
| 21. Bhubaneswar | BBI | 0.70 | 12,272 | 34 | 1,258 |
| 22. Amritsar | ATQ | 0.68 | 6,883 | 19 | 1,363 |
| 23. Indore | IDR | 0.55 | 10,119 | 28 | 4,903 |
| 24. Jammu | IXJ | 0.55 | 8,090 | 22 | 1,167 |
| 25. Visakhapatnam | VTZ | 0.50 | 9,770 | 27 | 535 |
| ¹ 2007-08: April 2007 - March 2008 |
|||||