Times of India: Surat: Sunday, August 12, 2018.
The airport
in the Diamond City is all set to become busy as passenger traffic is likely to
cross one lakh-mark per month from August 16.
At present,
the passenger traffic to and from Surat airport is pegged at 75,000 per month.
With IndiGo airline launching six new flights in a single day from August 16
from the city, the passenger traffic is expected to swell, putting pressure on
Airports Authority of India (AAI) to speed up infrastructural facilities,
including expansion of terminal building here.
The AAI has
earmarked Rs250 crore for the development of Surat airport and facilities to
expand international operations. A document sought under the Right to
Information (RTI) Act shows that AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra had written
to Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in May 2018 stating that
necessary fund allocation for development of Surat airport has been proposed.
The estimate of civil and electrical work was sent in July 2017. The revised
scope of work and drawings of terminal building was sent to AAI headquarters in
February and March 2018. At present, the airport handles about 40 flight
movements per day to various destinations, operated by SpiceJet, AirAsia and
Air India-the flight movement will be between 50-52 per day once IndiGo
commence services. At present, about 2,500 passengers travel daily to and from
Surat airport, against the capacity of existing terminal building to handle 250
passengers per hour.
RTI activist
Rajesh Modi said, “IndiGo will be operating Airbus aircraft having capacity of
more than 180 passengers each. Six such aircraft will be introduced taking the
total number of passengers from 75,000 per month to 1.35 lakh per month. Now,
it is time for the AAI to speed up terminal expansion work, otherwise influx of
flights will ultimately cause problems for passengers.”
The capacity
to handle landing, takeoffs and passenger movements at the airport is posing a
big challenge to airport authorities. With increase in air connectivity and
passenger traffic, the terminal building of Surat airport is bursting at its
seams. The terminal remains so much congested that the passengers do not have
enough chairs to sit in the waiting area.
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