Airports Authority of India expresses concern over expansion of Puducherry airport runway

Puducherry Airport expansion plan scrapped due to high cost of levelling land. Ministry of Civil Aviation suggests exploring alternative options such as developing a Greenfield airport. Puducherry govt. had sought financial assistance from MHA for land acquisition, but MHA determined that cost should be borne by the territorial administration. Govt. exploring increasing domestic services using existing facility.

As of now, it is curtains for the plan by the territorial administration to expand the operational capacity of the Puducherry Airport, with the Ministry of Civil Aviation flagging concerns about the huge cost involved in extending the present runway.

The Ministry’s lack of inclination to expand the airport came to light when the Union Civil Aviation Secretary, Vumlunmang Vualnam, wrote in his reply to a letter from BJP legislator P.M.L Kalyanasundaram that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has advised the territorial administration to explore other options such as development of a greenfield airport.

Mr Kalyanasundaram had written to Mr. Vualnam about a proposal to upgrade the present airport. In his reply, Mr Vualnam said the AAI was not in favour of extending the present runway because of the topography of the land surrounding the airport.

“AAI has expressed concerns regarding the topography of the land required for the runway extension, which may necessitate levelling costs. Given the substantial financial implications, AAI has advised exploring alternative options such as the development of a Greenfield Airport,” the Secretary said in his reply last month.

The Puducherry government had requested the AAI to extend the runway to operate bigger aircraft. The AAI had also devised a plan for expansion of the airport over two phases, enabling the operation of ATR-72/Q-400 type of aircraft in phase 1 and operation of A-321 type of aircraft in the second phase. However, a field inspection by the technical team found the explanation plan not advisable due to the cost involved in levelling the land, said an official.

A source in AAI said that to operate bigger aircrafts, the runway has to be extended from its present length of 1,500 metres. A vast stretch on the Kottakuppam side of the existing runway is almost 15 metres deep. Filling up of the stretch to expand the runway by around 800 metres in length and 300 metres in width, would require huge resources, the source said.

“Finding material to fill up the land and also getting financial resources will be a difficult task. The expenditure to fill the land alone, will amount to several crores,” he said.