Metros can have second airports

New Delhi: In a major shift in policy on airport infrastructure development, new airports will be allowed to come up within 150 km of existing ones.
This paves the way for clearance of a bunch of proposals for airports near or in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
However, private companies that have been handed over the existing airports in Delhi and Mumbai (and in other cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad) as part of the government’s airport privatisation programme will have the first right of refusal to develop the second airport.
The Uttar Pradesh government has proposed an airport at Greater Noida (near Delhi), the West Bengal government in Kolkata, and the Maharashtra government in Navi Mumbai.
The four metros handle over 60 per cent of the country’s air traffic, often leading to choking of airspace and delays in aircraft landing and take-off.
06/09/06 Bipin Chandran/Business Standard

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