Click to play videoMumbai Airport has been voted the best airport and also the safest in the State of the Airports Poll conducted by CNN-IBN and research group AC Nielsen.
The poll also asked the respondents many other questions related to airports and came up with some startling findings.
The findings of the poll were discussed in a special programme on CNN-IBN by a distinguished panel consisting of Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel; pioneer of low-cost travel Capt Gopinath, India CEO of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Kapil Kaul, Mercury Travels Vice-President Ashwini Kakkar, MD of Cochin International Airport S Bharath and winner of Lead India RK Misra.
An audience consisting of people from the aviation and tourism industry, aviation journalists and people who frequently fly also took part in the discussion.
One of the audience members Vivian Perez, who is from the tourism industry, started the debate by saying that when an airport is being built or renovated, inconvenience to the passengers should not happen as it is being done for their benefit itself.
"I wish Delhi Airport had taken a cue from Delhi Metro in the sense that while work happens you have least disruption for the commuters. Similarly, I wish Delhi Airport had done that for the passengers who are flying out. Until of course a series of article came in a national daily we had a situation in which people were getting to the airport four hours in advance," Perez said.
However, Ashwini Kakkar of Mercury Travels said things are changing for the better.
"A few years ago the state of our airports was deplorable but today two major airports, Delhi and Mumbai, have been completely privatised. Two brand new airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad are ready and a lot of work is being done at other airports across the country," Kakkar explained.
Enough being done to improve the state of the airports?
"Let me be very candid. I am surprised that 56 per cent say that the state of our airports is okay. The Delhi experience is not pardonable but it is not something that cannot happen anywhere else. Delhi is undergoing a transition from an old airport to becoming a world-class airport. Thing can be planned better. Even in developed countries, leaving aside US, China and Russia, there are only one or two world-class airports,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
He added, “India has got 82 operational airports and all are getting some kind of support right from Leh to Dibrugarh to Trichy. A massive upgradation programme is taking place. And it is not easy to complete ongoing exercise while growth is happening and expect people within a year or two to be completely satisfied. But I can assure that come 2009-10 by and large the major airports, all the six metros as well many secondary airports will become truly international. In Delhi, a second runway is going to be operational by June."
But Lead India winner RK Misra argued, “No, I don't think we should accept it. Traffic at Bangalore is growing at 33 per cent and there is just one runway. So now we will have planes hovering over Bangalore airport. The day it opens it will be running to capacity."
The biggest irritant
"In most airports there is no segregation for baggage handling. Behind the airport counters where the bags go, a lot of people are there, there are no segregated areas and there is no facility to barcode it. The congestion at frontend is visible but there is 10 times more congestion at the backend,” Capt Gopinath said.
Speaking about inconveniences faced by passengers traveling to the airports, Praful Patel said airports should be better connected to the city so that the commuting time is less and people have more choice.
"The airports should be well connected when they start. In fact, I am not happy with planning, as all over the world there is multi-modal connectivity. An airport is connected with high-speed expressway, motorways, and high-speed trains. A metro connection is not all. Multi-modal connectivity is that a passenger gets off a plane and takes a train to anywhere in the country if he wants to. When there is demand for airports within 15 kms of city centre, I wish it is possible. In India, show me any city where land is available and I will be happy to do it. Airports in India have to be designed at least 50 years down the line. Tomorrow people will talk about noise pollution. Mumbai Airport is bang in the middle of the city. In Delhi, the airport will be in the middle of the city in a few years," Patel reasoned.
"Many times in the Government, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. The airport at Hyderabad was built in record time of 36 months. Why did the states not develop the related infrastructure and provide better connectivity? Were they sleeping?" Patel asked.
Should we have two airports in one city?
Capt Gopinath agreed that major cities should have more than one airport.
"I can choose a TV Channel, I can choose a restaurant and I can choose a political party whom I can vote to power. Similarly, I should be able to choose the airport I want. We are now replacing public sector monopoly with private sector monopoly and I think it is not in consumer interest," he said.
Agreeing with Capt Gopinath, Mirsa added that just like multiple railway stations in cities there should be multiple airports also.
Patel, however, said that an airport can only be developed it is economically viable to do so.
"We have to look at creating infrastructure that can be used in future also. Then there is the question of economic viability. Government has to take a judicious decision. A country like India needs 500 airports and these cannot come up overnight. It is a period of transition and there should be economic viability for an airport come up," he said.
India CEO of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Kapil Kaul, too, agreed with the Minister.
"If you look at the economic model of an airport in India there is an aeronautical component and there is a non-aeronautical component. Mumbai and Delhi would need three to four airports. But the traffic and economics must justify multi-airports," Kaul explained.
Will there be more private airports?
"Yes. When I talk of 400-500 airports, it doesn’t mean that they all will be Government airports. There will be private airports,” Patel said and then added, “There is going to be competition and airports will improve. An airport regulator is on the anvil and has to be debated in Parliament. I hope to see the regulatory authority in place later this year."
New airport in Navi Mumbai?
“I have been hoping that we broke ground by now. But there are some issues. Land is to be acquired. We are moving in that direction, we have to get clearances from the Environment Ministry. We have to tie up with other infrastructure, roads and rail connectivity. I would see it as earliest as 2012,” Patel answered.
Meanwhile, Kakkar said growth in this sector is going to be phenomenal because even today, Indian Railways carries more passengers in a day than all the airlines put together carry in a year. So India has to catch up with the rest of the world.
“We have 0.02 per cent of the world’s air traffic. We have to grow almost 1,000 times to catch up with them. But in the meantime, there is always Mr Lalu Prasad's express,” he said.
But will three years from now the passengers see more airports or is it going to get more and more congested?
Patel said there will certainly be more and better airports, which would be world-class.
“We will see situation improving in airports, we will see secondary airports becoming larger airports and that's what the country needs,” Patel added.
Gopinath added that he is all for world-class airports, however his fear is about the monopolistic tendencies that some of the policies create.
“It is very good to have large international airports, but we should also give a lot of emphasis on regional airports,” MD of Cochin International Airport S Bharath said.
To which Kaul said that they have a master plan ready up to 2011 and 2012.
“We have to ensure investing in air traffic management services. The challenge will be to create more space in air,” Kaul added.
Wrapping up the debate, Patel said, “I promise that 35 non-metro airports will be a reality. In fact, some are already on there way to becoming a reality in the next six months alone. In Mumbai and Delhi, you will see visible improvement in the existing infrastructure and by 2010 the entire country will be proud of having airports like in Delhi and Mumbai. I can say that they will be competing with the best airports in the world.”
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