24 AAI-run airports without scheduled flight operations: Government

NEW DELHI: As many as 24 AAI-run airports/ civil enclaves do not have any scheduled flight operations despite the government-run airport operator having invested over Rs 300 crore in 21 of them between April 2009 and this fiscal so far, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

There are 24 airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) that do not have any scheduled flight operations, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

Since April 2009, AAI has spent Rs 309 crore on development of 21 of these airports, he said.

Of these 24 airports, six are in Maharashtra, three each in Punjab and Rajasthan, two each in Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh while one each in Delhi ( Safdarjung airport), Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal, according to the data presented by the Union minister.

Also, of the 24 airports, Safdarjung airport in New Delhi, Chakeri civil enclave in UP and Thanjavur civil enclave in Tamil Nadu have not seen any investment by the AAI during the period between April 2009 till date, according to the data.