Nagpur airport in central India may be redeveloped into the country's first self-declared hub facility.
The state of Maharashtra has for years been planning the so-called Multi-Modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) project, intended to turn the city's underutilised airport into a hub for cargo and passenger aircraft. Development plans are now closer to becoming reality following approval from state governments for a joint-venture company to develop Nagpur airport and surrounding infrastructure.
The country's Civil Aviation Ministry has publicly supported the plans, saying they will help in particular to greatly increase airfreight traffic in the country, where only a small number of dedicated freighter aircraft currently operate. Maintenance facilities are also planned there, led by Boeing which is setting up shop in India as part of an aircraft sales deal with state-owned Air India.
Maharashtra Airport Development Co (MADC) project manager Abid Ruhi says the new joint venture company will be 51%-owned by state government-controlled MADC and 49%-owned by Airports Authority of India. "The plan is for Nagpur to become a major hub for both cargo and passengers," says Ruhi, adding that MADC will be appointing a private developer for a modernisation of the airport.
The airport currently handles limited domestic and international flights. Its sole foreign airline customer is Air Arabia but Qatar Airways plans to start serving it soon. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel has said the country's major airports have lost out over the years to hub facilities in other countries as they have not been adequately developed. ■
Source: Airline Business
