Nagpur airport handles 28 lakh passengers in 8 months

AT THE time when trade and industry is experiencing slowdown, there is a good news for those associated with air travel businesses. As per the data given by MIL authorities, there is a significant rise in number of air travellers in last eight months. The Nagpur airport is witnessing a huge rise in air passenger traffic this year. Already, the number of passengers flying in and out of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport Nagpur has surpassed the full year passenger traffic of last year by a big margin. This year, the air passenger traffic has touched 28,04,579 from January to August compared to 21,76,439 of 2018, a rise of 6,28,140 air passengers.

This was revealed by V S Mulekar, Senior Airport Director and Chief Operating Officer of MIHAN India Limited (MIL) while speaking to The Hitavada. Air passenger traffic includes domestic, international and charter aircraft from Nagpur airport, he said. In order to handle the rise in air passenger traffic, he said, “Nagpur airport is going for massive expansion and upgradation of its infrastructure.” Already tenders have been floated and GMR Group has won the bidding process by offering 14.49 per cent revenue share to the Government.

The final approvals for the expansion plan is pending with the Central Government. It is estimated that the expansion plan of the airport will require an investment of Rs 1,685 crore. Once the expansion plan gets approved, GMR Group will execute the construction and operate the Nagpur airport. However, the air traffic services will be managed by Airport Authority of India (AAI), he said. Accordingly, the expansion includes construction of new terminal building, runway, apron and other infrastructure required by the airport to handle more air passenger and cargo traffic. Additional land has already been acquired and the total land with airport is 1,100.21 hectares. With the growth in air passenger traffic Nagpur airport can become one of the top rated airports in the country by 2025-26, he said. Originally the mast plan of development of Nagpur airport was prepared by L&T Rabale and subsequently renewed by Indian Aviation Consultancy, Mulekar further added.