In New Delhi, on March 9, the government informed the Rajya Sabha that the Jewar airport in Uttar Pradesh has been granted an aerodrome license and will be inaugurated soon.
Responding to questions about the Noida International Airport at Jewar, Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu informed the members that there is a 45-day to 2-month period from the grant of the aerodrome license to the start of actual operations, and flights will soon begin operating from the airport.
"I am pleased to announce that the DGCA has granted the first aerodrome license a couple of days ago after thorough consultations with other institutions, including the Airport Authority of India. As per the usual process, there is a 45-day to 2-month timeframe," he told the house.
After receiving the aerodrome license, the airport needs to develop a schedule, he added.
"We are also approaching airlines and asking them to start planning their schedules," he said.
"We are also planning a large inauguration. This will also promote the entire Jewar airport in Uttar Pradesh," he said.
Responding to a question about having an airport at Kapilavastu in Uttar Pradesh, which is linked to Lord Buddha, the minister said that the government's intention has always been to build more airports in the country, and this is exactly the vision that Prime Minister Modi has implemented through the Udan scheme.
"In the last 12 years, we have increased the number of airports in the country from 74 in 2014 to 166 today. This is a number that no other country has been able to match at this speed," he said.
On opening more airports in Telangana, the minister said that one of them is the Mamnoor Airport in Warangal, which is one of the oldest airports in the country. It was operational before the British era. It was a fully operational airport, and Vayudoot was also operational from there until 1983, he added.
"We have approximately 700 acres of land, and it can only accommodate an 1,800-meter runway. We want to also accommodate wide-body aircraft, and for that, we need more land," he said.
"We have requested the state government to provide an additional 250 acres of land, and they have given us the land. The airport authority is now in the planning stage, and we plan to lay the foundation stone soon, and after 2 years, the Mamnoor airport will be operational, and it will be a large airport with wide-body aircraft," he said in the Rajya Sabha.
The minister also mentioned that the government is considering two other areas in Telangana for airport development: a proposed Greenfield airport project in Kothagudem, and another site, Adilabad airport.
In his written response to a question on regional airports, the minister said, "Currently, there are 164 operational airports in the country. India is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world, and it is currently the third-largest domestic aviation market."
"To address the growing demand and emerging challenges in the sector, the Government of India has undertaken several initiatives, the major ones being: (i) The National Civil Aviation Policy was issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2016 with the objective of creating a conducive ecosystem for the overall growth of the aviation sector in a harmonized manner, covering all sub-sectors, including airlines, airports, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), and Flying Training Organisations (FTOs).
"(ii) The Government has launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN scheme in October 2016 to facilitate/stimulate regional air connectivity by reviving unserved and underserved airports in Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities, for making air travel affordable to the masses. Since the commencement of the RCS-UDAN scheme, a total of 663 routes have been operationalised, connecting 95 unserved and underserved aerodromes," the minister said in his written reply.
To further enhance regional connectivity, the government has announced the modified UDAN Scheme to connect 120 new destinations across the country, catering to 4 crore passengers in the next 10 years, Naidu added.
Under the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008, the Government of India (GoI) has accorded "In Principle'' approval for setting up of 24 Greenfield Airports across the country, he said, adding that out of these, 13 Greenfield airports at Durgapur, Shirdi, Kannur, Pakyong, Kalaburagi, Orvakal (Kurnool), Sindhudurg, Kushinagar, Itanagar, Mopa, Shivamogga, Rajkot (Hirasar) and Navi Mumbai have been operationalised.