Development of Airports in Small Cities

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has undertaken construction of small airports at five locations during 2014-2015. These five locations are: Hubli and Belgaum in Karnataka, Kishangarh in Rajasthan, Jharsuguda in Odisha and Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh. A Task Force under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation has been constituted for identification of other locations based on certain broad criteria such as, minimum population of 10 lakhs, tourism potential, commercial viability, details of the flight movements in the past, social obligations etc. Government of India is open to private participation in the process of providing regional and remote area connectivity to Tier-II and Tier-III cities through construction of small airports across the country. However, such consideration depends upon various factors such as willingness of the private players, commercial viability, socio-economic responsibility of the Government, support from the concerned State Governments etc. This information was given by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.