(a) the number of airports in Gujarat under the Airports Authority of India and out of them, how many are proposed to be upgraded to the international standards;
(b) the names of the airports that have been upgraded to international standards and by when the remaining airports will be upgraded to international standards; and
(c) whether it is proposed to connect several smaller cities of Gujarat to the National Capital by air services and the details of the progress made so far in this regard?
The Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Jayant Sinha)
(a) & (b): Airports Authority of India (AAI) owns and maintains 11 airports in Gujarat including two Civil Enclaves at Bhuj & Jamnagar and one International Airport at Ahmedabad. Out of these 11 airports, 10 are operational airports. Development and upgradation of airports to international standards is a continuous process, which is undertaken by AAI from time to time depending upon commercial viability, traffic demand, availability of land etc. Vadodara Airport has been upgraded to international standards by constructing a New Integrated Terminal Building. Further, AAI has also initiated work for upgradation of terminal building at Surat Airport to cater simultaneous operation of International & Domestic passengers.;
(c): Flight operations in domestic sector have been deregulated and the airlines are free to operate anywhere in the country subject to Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG) issued by the Government. It is upto the airline operators to provide air services to specific places depending upon the traffic demand and commercial viability. However, Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched Regional Connectivity Scheme [Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN)] in October, 2016 with the objective to facilitate/stimulate regional air connectivity to currently underserved and unserved airports by making it affordable. The revival of airstrips/airports is ''demand driven'', depending upon firm commitment from airline operators as well as from the State Government for providing various concessions. So far no route has been awarded under RCS-UDAN connecting National Capital to smaller cities of Gujarat.