Lack of infrastructure could be an important deterrent to growth unless a rapid and comprehensive expansion of airports and air-traffic- control equipment is put in place. Air Transport Action Group director Thomas Windmuller, speaking recently at a conference in Bangalore on infrastructure, said that at least $5 billion is expected to be spent over the next few years - with over half the funds being provided by foreign sources.
The building of at least six greenfield airports and the expansion of dozens of existing ones are on the stocks already, and Windmuller points to cities like Madras and Bangalore as having greater potential for expansion than the three major gateways of Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi.
The ATAG boss is critical of India's poorly developed ATC system which "requires wide spacing of flights - sometimes up to 15min or longer, especially at the largest airports".
The top priority for ATC improvement is the linkage between regional-control centres and terminal towers, although implementation of more advanced technologies for communication, navigation, surveillance and air-traffic management are essential in the long run, he says.
The Airports Authority of India is already responding to the problem by modernising Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and some second line airports such as Trivandrum and Hyderabad with varying degrees of ATC upgrades - all of which are expected to be on-line by mid-year. Nevertheless, it acknowledges the current deficiencies in infrastructure and the implications for satisfying growth in demand if they are not rectified.
Source: Flight International
