‘Seamless connectivity,’ can commute to India’s less-accessible airports get smooth with metro?

Ride before the take-off: Airports Council International’s latest rankings of airports in India, in its airport customer experience measurement, Airport Service Quality assessment for Q3 FY24, has revealed that on the basis of inter-city connectivity, among the 15 airports operating under the aegis of Airports Authority of India (AAI), Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport in Indore tops the table, while as Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport in Srinagar stands last. Would the Government of India’s ambitious revival plans for 50 airports, heliports, and landing grounds to improve regional air connectivity, also ensure a smoother commute to AAI operated 15 airports across the country? Republic Business takes a deep dive. 

Budgetary allocation  

The central government has set up an expert committee to review the “Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure”, as a part of which 50 additional airports, heliports, water aerodromes and advanced landing grounds are set to be revived. This was part of the efforts by the central government — as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2023-24 Union Budget. The highest ever capital outlay of Rs 2.4 lakh crore for the Railways and 100 critical transport infrastructure projects identified by the government, in the last Budget, has also set the ball rolling to enhance connectivity of the less-accessible airports through multi-modal means of transport. 

The highest-ever outlay for Railways made in the last Union Budget was about nine times the outlay made in 2013- 14. Speaking with Republic Business, prominent aviation expert Dharyasheel Vandekar says he is hopeful that policies of the Union Civil  Aviation Ministry for airport expansions also include connectivity of the 15 terminals functioning under AAI.  “In today’s day and age of seamless connectivity, travellers need easy access to airports. It becomes important to expedite Metro projects proposed for various tier-2 cities so that their airports are well-connected,” says Vandekar. 

Mobility Services 

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari had recently  said that mobility services such as Skybus were being introduced in India. Gadkari had stated this during his visit to the pilot certification and experience centre of uSky Technology in Sharjah, UAE. The Minister took a test ride on the Sky Bus.  “uSky Technology has developed Sky Bus solutions, and iSky Mobility has tied up with uSky to bring these mobility services to India” Gadkari wrote on X.  In view of Transport and Highways Ministry's envisaged high-end mobility solutions, the Technology Transfer Association recently sent a memorandum, a copy of which is with Republic Business, to the minister suggesting a bullet train service to cover 110 kms  from Pune to the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport in just over 20 minutes.  

Image credit: Unsplash 

Notably, there is already a proposal to connect Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai to the upcoming Navi Mumbai Airport. “If the bullet train is connected to Pune Airport as well, there will be choice of all the three available airports to the commuters.  The proposal is quite feasible and can give immediate results,” reads the TTA memorandum. The Navi Mumbai International Airport is expected to be operational by December 31, 2024.  Vice Chairman & Managing Director of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) Dr Sanjay Mukherjee was reported to have said. In fact, CIDCO is organising a brainstorming session “Conclave of opportunities around Navi Mumbai International Airport” on January 16.  

Best and least connected airports 

Even as Indore Metro, a rapid transit system which is under construction for the central state's biggest city, the Madhya Pradesh capital has topped the list of the Airports Council International’s latest rankings of airports in India, in its airport customer experience measurement, Airport Service Quality assessment for Q3 FY24, on the basis of inter-city connectivity (refer to infographics in story). Among the 15 airports operating under aegis of Airports Authority of India, Chennai airport features at the second position, while Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam shared the third spot, followed by airports at Trichy, Calicut, Kolkata, Patna, Amritsar, Raipur, Varanasi,  Goa, Coimbatore, Pune and Srinagar respectively.  

Image credit: Unsplash 

Pertinently, in its  infrastructure endeavour, Uttar Pradesh government has finalised the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) connecting the Noida International Airport in Jewar with Ghaziabad RRTS Station through Greater Noida West, Surajpur and Pari Chowk. The corridor proposed by NCRTC spans 72 kms and has 12 elevated stations. The Northern Terminal will be located at the already existing Ghaziabad RRTS station, while the Southern Terminal will be at Jewar International Airport.