An Overview
The government owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) operates 125 airports and civil enclaves out of a total of 449 airports and airstrips located throughout India. The cities of Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi and Mumbai are served by privately (or joint-venture) operated airports. All operational airports handled a total of 108.9 million passengers (77.3 m domestic and 31.6 m international) in the year ended March 2009. The total number of aircraft movements amounted to 1.31 million and freight volumes were at 1.7 million tons.
The new terminal 3 at Delhi IGI Airport is massive as seen in this video by MrAksharabasavaraj. The current international terminal 2 is seen in front of T3.
The new terminal taking shape at Mangalore airport. The airport has witnessed a significant growth in air traffic in the last couple of years.
Privatization and Airport Modernisation
Mumbai and Delhi airports handled 23.4 million and 22.8 m passengers respectively in 2008-09 and were ranked the world's 55th and 61st busiest airports respectively for the year 2006. During the first half of 2009-10 Delhi airport handled 12.2 m passengers compared to Mumbai airport's 12.1 m passengers during the same period. The modernisation costs for the two airports has been estimated at Rs 89 bn (phase I) for Delhi and Rs 76 bn for Mumbai. A greenfield airport located in Navi Mumbai is being planned for Mumbai as the scope to expand the current airport at Santa Cruz is limited in the long run due to its location amidst dense urban habitation and lack of available land for expansion requirements.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed an initial 30-year OMDA (Operation, Management and Development Agreement) with GMR-Fraport AG and GVK-ACSA (Airports Company of South Africa) led consortiums for the development and expansion of the airports at Delhi and Mumbai. The Mott MacDonald Group was appointed as the technical advisor for the Delhi airport modernisation project. HOK International was appointed to design the airport. The 480,000 m² integrated terminal 3 with 55 airbridges (six of which are designed to accomodate Airbus A380 aircraft) and 30 remote stands at Delhi will have an initial capacity to handle upto 35 million passengers per annum. Terminal 3 is expected to be commissioned in July 2010. A third ILS Cat. IIIb runway (11R/29L and 4,430 m long) is operational. A new interim domestic terminal (1C), located between the current domestic terminals 1A (used by Indian and Kingfisher) and the old terminal 1B (used earlier by all the other domestic airlines) replaced the old 1B terminal in 2009. The current international terminal 2 has been modernised. A highspeed rail link connecting the airport with New Delhi station is projected to be ready in the latter half of 2010. Mumbai airport is India's busiest having handled an average of some 623 daily aircraft movements during the period Apr-Oct 2009 and a record (among Indian airports) 2.58 million passengers in Dec '09.
Marcel Hungerbuehler's, CEO of BIAL, introduction to the Bengaluru International Airport.
Mumbai's Sahar airport is being modernised and expanded to cater to the growing number of passengers. An integrated terminal with a total floor area of approx. 400,000 m², 52 aerobridges and a capacity to handle 40 m passengers annually is going to be built in phases. The terminal is expected to be operational by 2013. A new domestic terminal (1C), sandwiched between the existing 1A and 1B domestic terminals, is expected to be commissioned in Jan 2010. The terminal will have six aerobridges and will be connected to terminals 1A and 1B through escalators and walkways. The airport handles currently around 650 commercial and military/general aviation landings and takeoffs a day.
Kolkata, Ranchi, Tiruchirapalli (completed), Bhopal, Jaisalmer, Indore, Raipur, Amritsar, Varanasi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Khajuraho, Jaipur (first phase completed), Aurangabad (completed), Udaipur (completed), Mysore, Dehra Dun (completed), Ahmedabad (new international terminal under construction), Mysore, Dibrugarh (completed), Surat (completed), Srinagar (completed), Leh, Madurai, Port Blair, Goa, Vadodara, Jammu, Coimbatore, Nagpur (completed) and Thiruvananthapuram (international terminal under construction and an Air India B737 MRO facility) are some of the airports where passenger terminals are being modernised and expanded. A new 35,000 m² international terminal has replaced the old terminal at Kozhikode's Karipur airport. The terminal features inline x-ray machines for the first time in India. Visakhapatnam's airport now includes a new integrated passenger terminal with an annual handling capacity of 3 m passengers and a total floor area of ca 20,000 m². Vizag's airport like Goa's Dabolim, is controlled by the Indian Navy. A new Rs 1.5 bn integrated passenger terminal at Mangalore's Bajpe airport is expected to be inaugurated in Q1/2010. A new 17,500 m² terminal is under construction at Madurai airport which like many other small and medium-sized airports (passenger volume wise) across India has witnessed significant growth rates during the past couple of years. A new greenfield airport at Pekyong in the north-eastern state of Sikkim, the only Indian state currently without air connections, has been planned at an estimated cost of Rs 3.2 bn with the foundation stone laid on Feb 28 '09. The airfield will be capable of handling upto ATR turboprop sized aircraft.These are examples of a plan by AAI to modernise and expand 35 non-metro and various other airports at an estimated total cost of Rs 124 bn (including Kolkata and Chennai airports) during the next five years. Other planned greenfield airports include Bikaner and Ajmer, both in Rajasthan.
¹ ACI Annual Traffic Statistics - 2006
Kolkata and Chennai Airport Upgradation
Kolkata airport is being modernised at an approx. cost of Rs 20 bn. An integral part of the modernisation plan is a new 180,000 m² integrated passenger terminal with a capacity to handle 20 million passengers a year (Kolkata's present terminals were designed to handle 5 m passengers a year). The new terminal is expected to be ready in 2011. The terminal is designed by RJMM. The airport's air traffic control and surveillance systems will also be modernised and the secondary runway will be extended to 3 239 m. Chennai's airport modernisation is underway with an investment of approx. Rs 18 bn including a new domestic terminal (67,700 m²) and international terminal (59,300 m²) with a total capacity to handle 23 m (7 m international and 16 m domestic) passengers annually. Total terminal floor space will add upto almost 190,000 m² once the expansion is completed. A new cargo terminal that will feature an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) is also under construction. A proposed new greenfield airport located at Sriperumbudur is also under study in Chennai.
Private Airports
Bengaluru International Airport
The new Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL), located approx. 40 kms north of Bengaluru city at Devanahalli off the NH 7 highway began commercial operations on May 24th '08. Construction of the estimated Rs 25 bn airport, spread over an area of over 3,800 acres, began in 2005. Equity shareholders in the airport include Siemen Project Ventures GmbH (40% stake), Unique Zurich Airport (17%), Larsen & Toubro (17%), Airports Authority of India (13 %) and the Govt. of Karnataka through KSIIDC (13 %). The rectangular shaped modern integrated terminal has a total floor space of 71,000 m² making it one India's largest passenger air terminal buildings. The apron can hold upto 42 aircraft at a time, including nine in-contact stands. Although the airport has a capacity to handle 11.4 million passengers a year, expansion of passenger facilities could follow very soon oncer the airport begins operations. Bengaluru's HAL airport handled a record 9.93 million passengers in 2007.
A major concern is access to the airport as it is located some 40 kms from the city. A fleet of modern buses provide transport on several routes covering all the major points in the city. The buses are operated by BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation). Dedicated airport taxis also serve passengers. A high-speed 34 km long rail corridor linking B R V Grounds (off MG Road in central Bengaluru) with the airport has been proposed but will only be operational earliest 2012 or so, that is if the the project gets rolling and actual implementation proceeds without too much delay. An Oberoi Trident hotel located neart the passenger terminal will be ready by the end of the year.
Hyderabad International Airport
The new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport covering a total area of 5,495 acres at Shamshabad near Hyderabad began commercial operations on March 23 '08. The cost of the first phase is estimated at Rs 23 billion. HIAL's stakeholders include the GMR Group, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, AAI (Airports Authority of India) and the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. The airport's initial passenger handling capacity is 12 million, which is roughly double the the number of passengers handled (6.78 m in 2007) at the old Begumpet Airport. The integrated terminal covers an area of 105,000 m² (roughly the size of Mumbai airport's terminals 2A and 2C combined). The apron includes 42 airplane stands of which 12 are in-contact (aerobridge). The runway is currently South Asia's longest at 4,260 meters. As with the soon to be opened new Bengaluru airport, airport access to the new airport at Hyderabad, located around 25 km's from central Hyderabad, could pose as a serious transit bottleneck as proper road access to the airport is still under construction. A dedicated fleet of 30 buses provides transport from four pick-up points in the city. The bus service is provided by Raj Airport Express. Public taxis arel also be available. An elevated expressway aligned along NH 7 is under construction and when completed should ease access to the airport. An 308 room Accor Novotel hotel is coming up next to the airport. Air-India and Lufthansa Technik are building MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities at the airport.
News Videos on HIAL:
>> IBNLive: Hyderabad's new airport gets ready for takeoff
>> IBNLive: Hyderabad gets new airport but no roads to get there
Cochin International Airport
Cochin International Airport (CIAL) is currently India's sole privately run airport. CIAL's turnover was close to Rs 1 bn in FY2005.
An expansion of the international terminal is underway which will eventually increase the total built-up area to 480 000 sq feet. The airport handled around 80 aircraft movements per daily during April to November 2006, an increase of almost 50 per cent.
A recently announced Rs 35 bn expansion plan for Cochin airport include setting up of an aviation academy, an MRO facility and hotels to mention a few.
Above pics: Cochin International Airport (CIAL) as seen shortly after take off. A 3,400 m long parallel taxiway, not seen in the image, is now operational. CIAL handles the fourth most international air passengers (1.77 m in 2007-08) among all the Indian airports. The domestic terminal, although compact, is clean and well organized (nice shopping arcade) handled an average of 61 daily arrivals and departures in the year ended March 2008. CIAL handled a total of 3.34 million passengers in the same year making it India's seventh busiest airport. 25 airlines serve the airport. A maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility and aviation training academy are being planned for the future. A perishable goods cargo center was inaugurated in Feb '09.
| Major Airports of India Data (under construction) | |
|---|---|
| Mumbai - Chhatrapati Shivaji International | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | BOM/VABB |
| Elevation: | 11 m |
| Runways (intersecting): | Heading 27-09 asphalt 3 489 x 45 m (11 446 ft) ILS CAT-I Heading 14/32, 2 925 x 45 m (9 596 ft), ILS CAT I, asphalt |
| Terminals: | Terminal 1A, 1B, 2A-C |
| Aircraft stands: | 90 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 14/5 |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | Air Arabia (320), Air France (B777), Air India/Air India Express (A310, B747, B737, B777, B767), Air Mauritius (767), ANA (B737), British AW (B747/B777), Cathay Pacific (777), EgyptAir (A330), El Al (767), Emirates (A330), Ethiopian (757), Etihad (A340), Gulf Air (B767, A320), Indian (A320), IndiGo (A320), Iran Air (747SP), Jazeera AW (A320), Jet AW (A330, B777, B737, ATR), Kenya AW (B767), Kingfisher (A320), Korean (A330), Kuwait (A300), Lufthansa (B744), Malaysia (B777), Northwest (A330), Oman Air (B737), Pakistan Int'l (B747), Qatar (A320), Royal Jordanian (A320), Saudi Arabian (B747), Singapore (B777), South African (A340), SriLankan (A320), Swiss (A330), Thai (A330), Turkish (A310), Yemenia (A330) |
| Direct Routes (International): | Abu Dhabi, Addis Ababa, Amman, Amsterdam, Bahrain, Bangkok, Brussels, Cairo, Colombo, Damman, Darwin, Detroit, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Los Angeles, Madinah, Mauritius, Muscat, Nairobi, Newark, New York City, Paris, Riyadh, Sana'a, Seoul, Sharjah, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tehran, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and Zurich |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | UC |
 A bird's eyeview of the Mumbai airport international crescent-shaped (ca 700 m long) terminal complex (adjacent terminals 2A, 2B and 2C from left to right) from a height of 797 m. A section of the cargo complex can be seen to the left of the terminal. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
The above video includes a good view of the extensive international and domestic aprons at Sahar airport, Juhu airstrip and Juhu beach with its row of seafront hotels. | |
| Delhi - Indira Gandhi International | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | DEL/VIDP |
| Elevation: | 237 m |
| Runways (parallel): | 10/28, 3 810 x 46 m (12 500 ft), Rwy 28 ILS CAT-IIIB, Rwy 10 ILS CAT-I, asphalt 09/27, 2 813 x 46 m (9 229 ft), Rwy 27 ILS CAT-I, asphalt 11/29, 4 430 x 60 m, ILS CAT-IIIB, asphalt |
| Terminals: | Terminal 1A (IA/CD): 14 700 m², 1B: 11 700 m², 1C ?, 2 (Int'l): 71 000 m², 3 (Dom and Int'l): 480,000 m² (In operation from July 2010) |
| Aircraft stands: | 69 (excl. T3 stands) |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 9/-, T3: 48 contact stands/78 aerobridges |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | Aeroflot(IL9), AeroSvit, Air Astana (B757), Air China (B767), Air France (B747), Air India (B747, B777, A310, A320, CRJ), Air India Express (B737), Air Mauritius, JetLite (CRJ,B737), American, Ariana, Asiana (B777), Austrian (B767), British AW (B747/B777), Cathay Pacific (A330), China AL, China Eastern, China Southern, Continental (B777), Druk Air (A319), Emirates (B777), Etihad, Ethiopian (B767), Finnair (A330), GMG (MD82), Gulf Air (A320, B767), IndiGo (A320), JAL, Jazeera AW, Jet AW (B777, B737, ATR, A330), Kam Air, Kingfisher (A320,A321, ATR), KLM (B777), Kuwait AW (A300), Lufthansa (A330, B744), Mahan Air (A320), Malaysia (A330), Oman Air, Pakistan Intl (B737, B747), Qatar AW(A330), Royal Jordanian (A310), Royal Nepal (B757), Saudi Arabian, Singapore (B777), SpiceJet (B737), SriLankan (A320), Swiss, Tajikistan, Thai AW, Turkish, Turkmenistan (B737), Uzbekistan, Virgin Atlantic (A340) |
| Direct Routes (International): | Abu Dhabi, Addis Ababa, Almaty, Amman, Amsterdam, Ashgabat, Bahrain, Bandar Abbas, Bangkok, Beijing, Bishkek, Brussels, Chicago, Colombo, Damascus, Damman, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Dushanbe, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jeddah, Kabul, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kiev, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Lahore, London, Madinah, Mauritius, Milan, Munich, Muscat, Moscow, Newark, New York, Paro, Paris, Riyadh, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Tashkent, Tehran, Tokyo, Vienna and Zurich |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
 A full bird's eyeview of Delhi IGIA airport from a height of 4 km. The international terminal is located near the bottom left corner and the two domestic terminals on the rightside sandwiched between the two parallel runways (9/27 is the upper runway while 10/28 is the lower one). The two runways are now in simultaneous use (first time in India) during peak hours. New rapid taxiways have been constructed to facilitate speedier ground movement of aircraft. A new integrated terminal 3 and a domestic terminal are currently under construction. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
| Chennai | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | MAA/VOMM |
| Elevation: | 16 m |
| Runways (intersecting): | 07/25, 3 658 x 45 m (12 001 ft) (ILS available on runway 07), asphalt 12/30, 2 032 x 45 m (6 666 ft), concrete/asphalt/macadam |
| Terminals: | International: 22 000 m², Domestic |
| Aircraft stands: | 37 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 5/3 |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | Air Mauritius, British AW (B777), Emirates, Gulf Air (B767), Kuwait, Lufthansa (B744), Malaysia, Oman Air, Qatar AW, Saudi Arabian, Singapore, SriLankan, Thai AW, Tiger AW |
| Direct Routes (International): | Bahrain, Bangkok, Colombo, Damman, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Mauritius, Muscat, New York, Riyadh and Singapore |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
 A full bird's eyeview of the terminals and the approx. 900 m wide apron area of Chennai airport as would be seen from a height of 556 m. The international Anna terminal is located to the left of the Kamaraj domestic terminal. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
| Bengaluru - HAL | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | |
| Elevation: | 888 m (2 914 ft) |
| Runway: | 09/27, 3 306 x 61 m, ILS |
| Terminals: | - |
| Aircraft stands: | 13 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 2 |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | no commercial operations |
| Direct Routes (International): | no commercial operations |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
 A bird's eyeview of the terminal area and HAL complex of Bengaluru HAL airport from a height of 730 m. Commercial airline traffic ended on May 23rh 2008 with the opening of the new Bengaluru International airport at Devanahalli to the north of the city. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
| Kolkata - Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International | |
| Short Video Clips - Copyright Timir Mozumder
| |
 A bird's eyeview of the Kolkata NSCB airport. A daylight departure on runway 19L would give a better view of Bidhan Nagar and even central Kolkata if the destination of the flight happens to be to the west or north of Kolkata as the aircraft changes. Great vistas await the air traveller on a flight to eg Yangon, Port Blair or Bangkok once the awesome Sundarbans (abode of the Royal Bengal Tiger) river delta area comes into view some minutes after take-off. Image © 2006 Digital Globel and © 2005 Google | |
 An air traveller arriving at NSCB can enjoy the extremely lush and verdant landscape as view the densely populated low-rise residential suburban municipalities incl. Barasat, Madhyamgram and New Barrackpur along the flight path as the aircraft makes a final approach toward runway 19L. The busy Jessore Road hugs the boundary of the airport. © 2005 Google | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | CCU/VECC |
| Elevation: | 5 m |
| Runways (parallel): | 01R/19L, 3 627 x 46 m (11 899 ft), 19L-ILS Cat II, asphalt 01L/19R, 2 839 m (further extension to 11 000 ft is underway) x 46 m (9 350 ft), asphalt. ILS Cat I has been proposed on the secondary runway. |
| Terminals: | International - 30 000 m² Domestic - 23 000 m² |
| Aircraft stands: | 24 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 1/3 |
| Int'l Operators (Type of aircraft): | Bangladesh Biman (F28), China Eastern, Druk Air (A320), Emirates (A330), GMG Airlines (MD82), Lufthansa (A330), Singapore Airlines (B777), Thai (A300/330) |
| Domestic Operators (Type of aircraft): | Air India/Indian, Jet Airways, JetLite, Kingfisher, Paramount, SpiceJet, Indigo |
| Direct Routes (International): | Dhaka, Dubai, Chittagong, Paro, Kathmandu, Kuming, Yangon, Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Muscat, London, Frankfurt, Bahrain |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
 A bird's eyeview of the Kolkata NSCB airport terminal complex from a height of 375 m. The bottom lower one is the domestic terminal, opened in 1995. NSCB airport is nowadays a lot busier than it was a couple of decades ago (known as Dum Dum airport at the time) when it handled less than half of its current traffic (170-180 movements/day). Twenty or so aircraft can be seen parked on the apron prior to peak hour departure periods. Domestic carriers must also use the international apron as bays are limited on the domestic apron. © 2005 Google | |
| Hyderabad - Rajiv Gandhi International Airport | |
| Elevation: | |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | HYD/VOHS |
| Runway: | 09/27, 4,260 x 60 m, ILS Cat I |
| Terminals: | Rajiv Gandhi Int'l: 105,000 m² |
| Aircraft stands: | 42 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 12 |
| Operators (Type of aircraft): | Emirates, Kuwait, Lufthansa (A340), Malaysia, Oman Air, Qatar AW, Saudi Arabian, Silk Air, SriLankan, Thai AW |
| Direct Routes (International): | Bangkok, Colombo, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Muscat, Riyadh, Singapore |
| Direct Routes (Domestic): | |
| Hyderabad - Begumpet (closed for commercial operations) | |
| Elevation: | 531 m |
| IATA/ICAO Code: | -/VOHY |
| Runway: | 09/27, 3103 x 45 m (10180 ft), asphalt |
| Terminals: | Rajiv Gandhi Int'l: 16 000 m², NTR domestic: 11 500 m² |
| Aircraft stands: | 9 |
| Aerobridges (Intl/Dom): | 2/2 |
 A bird's eyeview of the terminal (previously Rajiv Gandhi international and NTR domestic) area of Hyderabad (Begumpet) airport which is now closed for commercial operations. | |