METRO AIRPORTS:

CONGESTION ISSUES

AIR PASSENGER traff ic growth has hit a brick wall. With traff ic rising consistently, airports such as Delhi and Mumbai are saturated, and smaller airports are not yet equipped to handle the spillover load. Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha recently announced plans for 100 airports ( 70 at new locations, and 30 for expansion of existing airports and second airports). Industry experts, however, say that this only proves the lack of foresight in anticipating air traff ic growth. In metro airports, the problem is lack of airport slots. With regional airports, the issue is largely land acquisition. According to reports, some 12 airports are stuck as state governments are yet to acquire land for their construction.