So Much More To Fly

Rabindra Seth

Indian Tourism's high profile lobbyist, Subhash Goyal, head of Stic Travels and President, IATO, has reasons to celebrate. His pleas at every travel fora for an international airport for every state capital had few takers among the powers that be. But, awakening in the states, though not in all of them, globalisation-spurred realisation of the need for greater connectivity, and private enterprise initiatives promise achievement within the decade, much beyond Goyal's dreams. Kerala, which has established a reputation for thinking out of the box where tourism is concerned, was the first to take the lead in building the country's first green-field international airport at Cochin with private funding and skills. Cochin is the state's second entry-port to foreign carriers and is poised to welcome the first A380 flight to India when the super jumbo is launched sometime next year. Calicut, in the state's northern region - Malabar - is the third international airport where a new terminal is nearing completion. And, spade work on Kerala's fourth international airport, at Kannur, is in hand after the in-principle go ahead from the centre.

Elsewhere in the south, Bangalore and Hyderabad have joined the big ticket international airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram attracting the likes of British Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. In the west, Ahmedabad is gradually establishing its claim to international operations as is Amritsar in the north. And, in the east, Guwahati and Bodhgaya have just made a beginning towards bringing Assam and Bihar on the world aviation map. (Varanasi in UP and Patna in Bihar have been Nepal-centric international airports and may rise a few notches on the ladder with the emerging low cost carriers). Waiting in the wings are Jaipur and Agra, desirous of joining Goa as charter destinations.

The latest to aspire for a second international airport in the state is Punjab which is already in the process of upgrading Amritsar. The state's PWD minister, Pratap Singh Bajwa told newspersons in Jalandhar that it will be located at Lodowal near Ludhiana, the state's leading industrial hub. The centre's nod, he said, has been obtained, and work is expected to begin in November. Built over 2,400 acres, it would be completed in two years time. He did not indicate how the project will be financed. All he said is that the state government has already selected a Delhi-based consulting firm among 12 bidders for preparing a pre-feasibility report. And, once the report is available (which he said will be soon), the state government will seek clearance from the centre for "initiating the project". Industry observers, however, believe the state may choose the BOT route and invite NRIs to fund the project.

Kerala's Kannur airport project figured largely at the recently held Malabar Travel and Tourism Mart in Calicut not only in the business sessions but also during social functions. The state's tourism director, B Suman recalled that the project was first taken up in the dying years of the last century and a large chunk of land too had been acquired. It has now been revived in great earnest and the acquisition process will be completed soon. He said Kannur will not only supplement air travel facilities for Keralites working in the Gulf but will also go a long way in opening up Malabar to leisure seekers from the rest of the country, and particularly from neighbouring Karnataka's Coorg region. Kannur, he said, is a city of excellence for handlooms with huge exports. Cargo will be a special feature of the new airport (Cochin, it seems did not think of this segment earlier and is now moving in to provide the facility). He estimated that air cargo that could be lifted from Kannur could be of the order of 40,000 tonnes annually, mainly with spices and textiles. The new airport may cost Rs 640 crore. For financing, the options would be the Cochin model of public-private sector partnership or BOT. Suman expected the project to be completed in two years once the green signal is given.

In an update on Calicut airport, Suman said with increasing passenger amenities, foreign airlines will also extend their services. These include Sri Lanka Air, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia and Silkair plus, of course, Air India and Indian Airlines along with other domestic carriers. About the Smart City project for Calicut, regarding which chief minister Oommen Chandy gave an assurance at the travel mart that it will be implemented, Suman said it would be an extension of modern Dubai. IT and IT-enabled services and recreation facilities will be its main features. It is expected that in five years the Smart City will have created 30,000 jobs.

Suman also said that Bakel, the special tourism area designated for development, has also started attracting investments. An NRI group is building the first major resort there.

More airports - domestic or international - the merrier.

The author is a freelance columnist and can be contacted at rabseth@yahoo.com