States left out of airports plan to complain today

The policy has proposed developing six metropolitan airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad — as major international hubs. In the future, these airports would serve as the main access points for international travel, to and from India, the draft policy states.

Kerala, with Kochi being a major hub for traffic to Gulf countries, is one of the most concerned states. In 2013-14, Cochin International Airport Ltd carried 3.27 million passengers, or 7 per cent of the country’s total traffic, higher than Bangalore and Hyderabad put together. In fact, if passengers from Kerala’s three international airports — Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram — are clubbed, the state’s traffic at 7.38 million is substantially higher than even Chennai (4.53 million), which is third in the pecking order.

When contacted, V J Kurian, additional chief secretary with the Kerala government who also holds the charge of aviation, told The Indian Express, “We hope it (the proposal) does not become the rule… Kochi airport has the fourth largest international traffic numbers now and if we take Kochi, Trivandrum and Kozhikode together, we will be more than Chennai.”

Punjab has already written to the ministry that the proposal needs to be reviewed. The state has pointed out that besides Amritsar, it has, along with the Airports Authority of India, invested substantially in the proposed international airport at Mohali. Significant traffic to the West from Amritsar and Mohali holds potential, it said. Principal secretary, labour and civil aviation, Punjab, Viswajeet Khanna said the state also serves people from other northern states, who prefer Amritsar over Delhi to board international flights.

Madhya Pradesh has raised an objection saying that it has for long demanded that Bhopal and Indore be included in the list of international airports. Iqbal Singh Bains, the state’s principal secretary, aviation, said, “While the call has to be taken by the ministry, we have consistently made this request. In fact, Indore has always been on the final selection list and we have been making concerted efforts to get flights from Dubai and other West Asian destinations to this airport.” He said the state would put forth its views on how international airport destinations should be chosen during Tuesday’s meeting.

Rajasthan sees sizeable international traffic in Jaipur, a tourist destination. Ajit Kumar Singh, the state’s principal secretary, aviation, said that perhaps there was some error in drafting the proposal by the ministry. “For us, both Jaipur and Udaipur are important international airport destination. Moreover, these two airports receive a large number of chartered flights,” he said, adding that the issue would be clarified in the meeting with the minister.