AAI plans to develp 325 airstrips

Mumbai: Airports Authority of India (AAI) would soon be finalising a consultant to undertake the techno-economic feasibility study for the development of 325 airstrips across the country.

The consultant would be appointed by the end of this month, while the feasibility study itself would take around three months’ time, according to Mr V.K. Kalra, Executive Director, Key Infrastructure Development, Airports Authority of India.

The development of each strip would entail investments of Rs 30-40 crore, he said.

“Currently, the majority of these airstrips are unused or are being used for some training purposes and so on. The feasibility study would determine what would be the apt usage of these airstrips,” he said on sidelines of India Aviation Outlook Summit 2008 organised by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

These strips would help improve regional connectivity and could be utilised by ATR planes, he said.

On a specific query as to whether some of these airstrips could be transformed into low cost airports or terminals, Mr Kalra said their viability for such a purpose would be known only after the feasibility study is done.

Some strips might have the potential for business jets and charter flight operations, he said.

On development of the 24 non-metro airports, Mr Kalra said that the Authority would be developing them on a public private partnership basis. The Government recently shortlisted bidders for the Amritsar and Udaipur airports; a final decision is expected in the next three or four months.