The author has rightly called for a "wholisic view of aviation" given the severe bottlenecks that prevail. However, he seems to have completely overlooked the pervasive constraints placed on our aviation sector by the defence establishment. A careful review of these constraints is urgenty needed to weed out the ones which have outlived their military purpose in the post 9/11 era of aviation. There are defence constraints on the use of air space over places like Delhi, there is the reservation of one runway in Delhi purely for air force use, there are a score of airfields (like Dabolim in Goa) which are controlled by the military and result in onerous restrictions on civilian flights and so on. The Civil Aviation minister must take the initiative and press for a top level review of such antedeluvian restrictions which if lifted can go a very long way to quickly relieve the bottlenecks the author has talked about.
I agree fully with the comments by the author of bottle necks in the sky. In fact I said as much in Nagpur where they are thinking of building a Hub Airport. Today if Nagpur can get its act together and build an airport which can take the new Airbus A-380, it will be the only airport in India to handle this aeroplane.
Even if Mumbai and Delhi catch up later, congestion at these airports will make Nagpur more attractive for airlines who would like to get in, discharge passengers, pick up fuel and new passengers and take to the sky again.
Fuel burn is a very critical issue for airlines especially when large planes like the A-380 are forced to hold over congested airports.
RE:Airport for Nagpur
by Philip Thomas on Apr 23, 2005 11:34 AM Permalink
This might only make sense if Nagpur is connected to Mumbai and Delhi via some high speed transportation links. Otherwise it will just be a possible technical stop for A380s, for fuel and repairs if needed! Maglev trains any one?
The wholistic view of aviation in Inda must include as a high priority the debottlenecking of constraints due to archaic defense restrictions. Delhi airport is reportedly limited to only one runway because the other one is reserved for IAF use. In Goa, Dabolim airport is a naval air station which restricts flights on the first four days of the week during peak morning hours. Airlines, quite rightly, refuse to change their schedules just for the other days when there are no restriction. Meanwhile Airports Authority of India is unable to handle arrivals/departures in the night even though the Navy claims night operations are feasible. Like Dabolim there are a score of other "defense enclaves" which handle civil flights. An immediate move must be made at top most levels of government to introduce an effective system of "joint management" of such airfields while adequately safeguarding military security. In the U.S. we know of one such system which encompasses the Hickam Air Force Base and Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii. In the absence of joint management, Indian aviation is forced to invest in new airports at enormous cost and great delay.
