(a) the action taken by the Government to expand Surat Airport;
(b) the status of the Terminal Expansion Project flagged off during 2018;
(c) the future plans to connect the city of 66 lakhs people to the rest of the world with International Flights by Air India;
(d) whether the National Carrier Air India operate flights only to two cities when compared to much smaller cities who have flights to multiple destinations; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
The Minister of State (IC) in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Hardeep Singh Puri)
(a) & (b): Airports Authority of India (AAI) has initiated action for expansion of Terminal Building, full length Parallel Taxi Track and extension of Apron for additional 10 Nos. Code C type of aircraft parking bays at a cost of Rs. 353 Crores. The construction work for expansion of Terminal Building has been awarded on 27.05.2019 and the work has already commenced. ;
;
(c): Presently, Air India Express is operating four flights in a week on Surat-Sharjah-Surat Sector. As of now, Air India does not have any plan to start direct international flights from Surat.;
;
(d) & (e): Currently, Air India is operating two flights daily on Delhi-Surat- Delhi Sector and Air India Express is operating four flights in a week on Surat-Sharjah-Surat Sector. Air India plans its schedule of operations based on the assessment of demand, market potential, availability of requisite resources, commercial viability etc. At present, Air India does not have additional capacity to mount new flights and each aircraft is operated with a planned rotation with an aim to optimize the deployment of the airlines resources to meet market demand.