Greenfield airports within 150 km of existing ones soon.

Operators developing greenfield airports (built from scratch on undeveloped land) are likely to face increased competition, with the Ministry of Civil Aviation considering tweaking the norms to allow such airports to be developed within 150-km radii of existing ones.

According to norms in the 'policy on airport infrastructure of India', the government will approve the establishment of greenfield airports in places where an existing one is unable to meet the projected requirements of traffic or in case a 'new focal point of traffic emerges with sufficient viability'. This could either be as a replacement for an existing airport, or for simultaneous operations.

HBL