With some major Indian air hubs soon to reach saturation point, up to 200 new airports could be built in the country under a new infrastructure plan from the ministry of civil aviation.
It wants more than 30 cities to have a second airport, and Delhi and Mumbai could have a third airport by 2040.
"In leading regions like Delhi and Mumbai even the second airports are likely to be saturated by 2040 and will require a third airport. India’s commercial airline fleet is likely to grow from 622 in March 2018 to around 2,359 in March 2040 ," said a civil aviation ministry official.
The ministry’s Vision 2040 report sees no slowdown in the high annual growth of domestic air travel.
The report says Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Bengaluru are among several cities that will need a second airport within little more than a decade.
The ministry will liase with state governments to plan ahead for the inevitable passenger overload at some airports.
It has asked them to identify land to build new airports at least five years before the existing airport”s capacity is reached.
