The Indian civil aviation minister's push for greater domestic regional air connectivity in India has highlighted another, more complex, issue: that of the underdeveloped and under-served international airports in the country.
On October 4, 2012 the union cabinet declared airports at Lucknow, Coimbatore, Trichy, Mangalore and Varanasi as international. Close to two years hence, the international air traffic at the airports combined, account for slightly more than 4% of total passenger traffic and 0.48% of the total international freight in the country. They are served by 3-4 airlines out of more than 50 that fly to India.
Two of these airports--Mangalore and Trichy cannot accomodate wide-bodied planes, three of them don't have a separate terminal for international passengers, most have very basic air traffic control systems and none of them have amenities like pre-paid taxis, foreign exchange outlets, wi-fi connectivity or even mobile charging points.
01/10/14 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times
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On October 4, 2012 the union cabinet declared airports at Lucknow, Coimbatore, Trichy, Mangalore and Varanasi as international. Close to two years hence, the international air traffic at the airports combined, account for slightly more than 4% of total passenger traffic and 0.48% of the total international freight in the country. They are served by 3-4 airlines out of more than 50 that fly to India.
Two of these airports--Mangalore and Trichy cannot accomodate wide-bodied planes, three of them don't have a separate terminal for international passengers, most have very basic air traffic control systems and none of them have amenities like pre-paid taxis, foreign exchange outlets, wi-fi connectivity or even mobile charging points.
01/10/14 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times
