GOVT LOOKS AT RUNWAYROADS AS NEW RURAL AIRPORT MODEL

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government is building a unique airport in which the airstrip would be used both as a runway as well as a highway, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has said.

Without sharing details, Gadkari said the airport is being built in Rajasthan. He was speaking at an event organised by the Air Passengers’ Association of India here on Wednesday.

“Once the road is closed”, the highway can be used for planes to take off and land, the minister explained, adding that the government is planning to build more such airports. “In hilly areas like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura and in border districts, we will construct more such airports with help from defence authorities and have identified certain sites.”

The more airports we have, more convenient it will be for people, and will also increase tourism, Gadkari said. “The lesser the government intervention, the better it is for the industry. Government should be the facilitator. I hope open competition would result in airfares getting cheaper than train tickets,” he said.

Industry experts, however, differ. “An aircraft is not like a bus, which people can simply board when it stops. For an airport, you need a terminal, scan baggages, frisk people, you need ATC support. There are a whole lot of security issues involved,” aviation expert Rajji Rai felt.