Question : Performance of Airports

(a) whether the Government has reviewed the performance of busy airports in the country particularly in Bihar, if so, the details thereof;

(b) the details of the funds disbursed for expenditure for the expansion of operational/pending airports in the
country;

(c) the steps taken by the Government for linking places of tourist and historical importance in the country particularly in Bihar through air routes;

(d) whether the air passengers development rate of Indira Gandhi International Airport has been the highest as per the recent report of International Civil Aviation Organisation; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and the measures taken by the Government to link both the places of lord Buddha in Bihar through air routes?

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION

(Shri Jayant Sinha)

(a): Yes Madam. Airports handling one million or more passengers annually are considered as busy airports. The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for the 30 busy airports for the last 3 years is 12.1%. Patna and Gaya airports, in particular, handled 1.58 and 0.16 million passengers during 2015-16 and have CAGRs of 16.4% and 8.7%, respectively. ;
;
(b): The details of expenditure incurred by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for expansion of operational airports for the last three years and the current year are at Annexure-I. ;
;
(c): All the airports in the country are considered important from the point of view of tourism as they provide connectivity to one or the other tourist destination and places of historical importance. Scheduled flights are operating from 77 functional airports in the country. Patna and Gaya are the two operational airports of Bihar and scheduled flights operates to/from these airports. ;
;
(d): Yes, Madam. As per the January, 2017 issue of the Air Transport Monitor Report, passenger traffic grew robustly at the rate of 19.1% at Delhi Airport and is now ranked within top 15 airports of the world for the first time. ;
;
(e): 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. However, it is upto the airline operators to provide air services to specific places depending upon the traffic demand and commercial viability.