Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, on December 5, 2017, said if land was available, a second airport near Kolkata was a possibility. “Kolkata needs an alternative airport. If the West Bengal government gets land, it can happen,” he said during a media interaction. Currently, the city has one airport – the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at Dum Dum on the suburbs.
Raju said land was a state subject and that a huge land was needed, for an airport. The Dum Dum airport is expected to reach a saturation point soon, given the way it is growing in terms of air traffic. Asked about the greenfield airport at Andal near Durgapur, Raju said its future depended on whether the airlines wanted to use it.
See also: Kolkata airport to go green with 15 MW solar power plant
Regarding the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme, UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), he said more airports would become active with the start of scheduled flight operations, after the second round of auctions. The minister had, in November 2017, said the second round of bidding had drawn ‘very good response’ and that 17 players had come up with initial proposals.
As many as 141 initial proposals for air services, including for operating aircraft and helicopters, on 502 routes were received, at the second round of auctions under the regional air connectivity scheme, the government had said.
Raju said on 20-25 routes under UDAN, the operators were not seeking a viability-gap funding as the routes were very promising.
Press Trust of India (PTI), headquartered in New Delhi, is India’s largest news agency. It was registered in 1947 and started operations in 1949. PTI has more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers, who generate more than 2,000 stories and 200 photographs every day. Subscribers to PTI’s feed include the mainstream media, research groups, specialised presses, companies, government organisations and NGOs.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PressTrustofIndia
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PTI_News
Email: [email protected]
Related Posts
Kolkata airport to go green with 15 MW solar power plant.
Consultant to submit report on Kolkata Airport expansion.
AAI signs MoU for 20-year master plan, to develop Kolkata, Lucknow airports.
Work on Inland Waterways’ Haldia terminal to begin on March 23, 2018.
Kolkata announces housing project, for those with monthly earning of Rs 30,000 and lesser.
Reliance Industries to invest an additional Rs 10,000 crores in West Bengal.
