Airports Authority of India to develop five no-frills airports

NEW DELHI: In an attempt to provide air connectivity in under-serviced areas of the country, the civil aviation ministry has announced that the Airports Authority of India ( AAI) will develop five no-frills airports – one each in Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan, and two in Karnataka.

The airports, which have been shortlisted from 50 cities and towns in remote areas across the country, will be built in Teju in Arunachal Pradesh, Jharsuguda in Orissa, Krishna Nagar in Rajasthan and Hubli and Belgaum in Karnataka.

"AAI has developed a model for these no-frills airports, which will provide essential services needed to operationalise the airports, without in any way compromising safety and security. This will result in low cost of operation and make it viable for the airlines with smaller aircraft to run their services," Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati announced during a conference to share his ministry's achievements in the last 100 days.

The plan is to start services in these five locations during the current fiscal year, which is according to the plan approved by the Prime Minister's Office in a meeting held in July this year. They are estimated to be built at as low as Rs 50 crore for each airport, and will have rudimentary facilities.

They will be built in the form of modules, which means a block can be added once there’s an increase in demand, ET had reported on July 31.