The government is targeting an annual passenger capacity of 50 crore at six major metro airports in India, along with the construction of newer airports, Rajiv Bansal, secretary at the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said.
The current annual capacity at the Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata airports is 32 crore. Delhi alone will be able to handle 10 crore passengers with the expansion of Terminal 1, which is expected to be completed by October, Bansal said at the Capa India Aviation Summit 2023.
The new airports at Navi Mumbai and Jewar are expected to start operations by the end of next year, Bansal said. They will help decongest the existing Delhi and Mumbai airports.]
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said he expects the average daily domestic aviation passenger numbers to cross the previous peak of 4.56 lakh by October this year. This will be beyond the current daily numbers of 4.2–4.4 lakh, he said at the summit on Monday.
Strong demand for air travel had recently led to queuing and congestion at major airports. The ministry had held meetings with key airport executives and laid out a few measures, such as increasing manpower and scanners, to alleviate the rush.
But experts have said that only capacity expansion can ensure smooth operations in the future, as air passenger traffic has remained robust even in January and February, when traditionally demand tapers off after the busy festival season.
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