'Mumbai airport plans yet to be ironed out'

New Delhi: While the countdown for a new runway has begun in Delhi, Mumbai's airport expansion plans are yet to take off. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel has admitted that Mumbai is facing 'problems'.
Both the airports were privatised simultaneously last year to expedite the modernisation process.
"There are problems in Mumbai. The state government is yet to iron them out. Delhi airport has been getting much better support and faces far less problems," he said on the sidelights of Delhi's foundation stone laying ceremony for a new airport and runway on Saturday, A GVK official admitted that the group could not give any timeframe for building a new runway in Mumbai. "As per international guidelines, parallel runways need to be 1,100-metre apart.
Even after all encroachments in the airport area are cleared, we would need to acquire private land to have that distance.
In a place like Mumbai, getting private land is extremely tough. Moreover, the approach funnel for the new runway also has some obstructions like the big headquarters of a big company," he said.
18/02/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: airports feb 2007