Revival of Airports and Airstrips

With domestic air traffic on the rise and India registering a faster growth rate than the US and China when it comes to number of fliers, according to the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament recently, the government has earmarked 4,500 crore for revival of 50 unserved and underserved airports and airstrips. However, the government warned that the revival of airstrips/airports will be ‘demand-driven’, depending upon firm commitment from airline operators as well as from the state governments. To add to growing number of passengers from Tier-II and Tier-III cities with the operationalisation of the regional connectivity scheme, the government has already granted “site clearance” for five Greenfield airports.