Nagpur airport handled 18.9 lakh fliers in 2017, more than 3 times its capacity

As per information provided by the government at the recently concluded budget session, Nagpur airport handles fliers more than three times its capacity. This had made it Maharashtra’s third busiest airport.

Looking at the growing demand from passengers, the state is currently holding a bidding process after which the airport will be handled by a private operator. The operator is also expected to construct a new terminal building.

A senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official from Nagpur airport said, “A second runway along with terminal building is planned at Nagpur airport. This terminal will have 50 additional parking bays to the current 18 bays. As the airport will be privatised, bidding process for the same is in process and a private company is expected to be finalised by June this year. After this, construction work as per master plan will commence.”

Nagpur airport is designed to handle 5.70 lakh passengers annually, but last year it handled 18.9 lakh fliers. Nagpur airport is operated under a joint venture company, MIHAN India Limited (MIL) in which Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) holds 51% and 49% stake, respectively. According to passenger traffic handled in 2016-2017, twelve other airports in the country - Jaipur, Patna, Jammu, Dehradun, Leh, Rajkot, Guwahati, Coimbatore, Bagdogra, Port Blair, Agartala and Imphal - were handling more passengers than capacity. Mumbai airport, the country’s second busiest is expected to reach saturation point this year.  

According to SITA, a global airlines IT services solution, the airport is expected to accommodate up to 14 million passengers. The state government gave its nod to the development of the Nagpur airport on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model last year. A private player would be operating the airport for 60 years with an expected investment of Rs1,700 crore.

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