December 19, 2017 TnH Global

AAI to study air traffic congestion

As air traffic at key Indian airports has begun to reach a saturation level, Airport Authority of India (AAI) that manages the aircraft movement in Indian airspace is in the process of conducting a seven-month long assessment of the situation, say AAI officials. This will help them in capacity enhancement. With over 1000 aircraft already on order by Indian airlines, the capacity constraints may pose a challenge in the world’s third-largest domestic civil aviation market in the world.

According to the officials, the study involves assessment of the available terminal capacities and forecasting of traffic. Some of the other important parameters that will be in focus during the study involve the facilities for the arriving/departing/transfer/transit passengers at the airport terminals. Baggage flow, road access and terminal concourses, vehicle parking capacities, counters, trollies, etc, are the other key point that will be considered during the study.

As per an AAI tender document, the assessment of current capacities and future projection will be made based on the average and maximum values for the process parameters, peak periods, the statistical distribution, time distribution, etc.

Initially, the assessment will be done at 31 non-metro airports in consultation with concerned agencies responsible for traffic handling that includes air-carriers, ground handling operators, immigrations, customs, CISF and more.

As per the tender document, evaluation of the average and maximum values for the process parameters, peak periods, the statistical distribution, time distribution, among other things, are the important elements that are expected to be part of the study.

As per an estimate by airline lobby body International Air Transport Association (IATA), India will displace the UK as the third-largest aviation market by 2026. The passenger traffic further will reach around 442 million by 2035. This would be about 322 million passengers in addition to the current numbers.

The capacity at major airports including Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata will reach their maximum capacity in the next one to five years; the other top 10 airports such as Pune, Jaipur, Srinagar, Lucknow, Dehradun, etc, are already operating beyond their design capacity, it added. Another CAPA report in June had revealed that the order book of the Indian airline industry is likely to cross 1000 aircraft.