Passenger traffic is rising at South Asia’s busiest Airports by Srimal Fernando

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Passenger traffic is rising at South Asia’s busiest Airports

By  Srimal Fernando, South Asia Correspondent

thediplomaticsociety.co.za

Air transportation is a major transport method in South Asia. Over the last two decades, the civil aviation industry and travel pattern in South Asia has changed dramatically. The region is home to a wide range of domestic and international airports. The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in India, the Jinnah International Airport in Pakistan, Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA)  in Sri Lanka, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Bangladesh, The Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in the Maldives, the Paro Airport of Bhutan and the Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal are the largest and  busiest airports in this region that attract over 100  international airlines.

 

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi, India became South Asia’s largest and one of the most important aviation hubs in recent years. IGIA registered another record year with the airport’s passenger traffic reaching an historic 29.94 million passengers in 2010-11. It is also one of the busiest airports in India in terms of daily flight traffic. The airport opened a 4.43 kilometre long new runway in 2008 for commercial operations. The 502,000 square meter ‘U’ shaped state-of-the-art Terminal 3 building is the world’s eighth largest passenger terminal. International airlines including Air India British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Jet Airways, Malaysian Airlines, Emirates, Sri Lankan Airlines and Cathy Pacific Airways operates weekly services to many destinations around the world from IGIA. The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) along with Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport handles more than half of the air traffic in South Asia.

 

Sri Lankas Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) located in Colombo, Sri Lanka is a major and strategic regional focal point between Middle East and Far East aviation lines.  The airport offers passengers a unique combination of functional advantages and welcoming travel experience. The BIA has international terminals, a transit terminal and a cargo village. The BIA image will certainly be further consolidated by the new state-of-the art facilities under the ambitious expansion programme that will be complete by 2012. BIA has begun development work on a major new passenger terminal that will raise the airport capacity to 16 million passengers per annum with a duty free shopping complex of 125 shops.  At the Airport first and Business Class Check-In Lounges provide specialized services for passengers with 39 check-in desks and immigration facilities and direct access to the departure lounges. BIA also serves as base for Sri Lankan Air, the flag carrier of Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka’s second international Airport which will cover an area of 2,000 hectares will be constructed by 2012 in Hambantota. The airport will have landing capability of the latest aircraft; Air bus 380.

Ibrahim Nasir International Airport situated on the adjacent Hulhulae Island off Male’ island in the Maldives includes a seaplane base and a domestic base for internal transportation. The airport is a major stop over point for Sri Lankan, Emirates, Singapore, Malaysian and Oman Air lines.

 

Paro International Airport situated at an elevation of 7,300 ft is the major aviation hub in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. Druk Air or the Royal Bhutan Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of the country that operates non stop flights to Paro from IGIA Delhi.

 

Tribhuvan International Airport is the other major aviation hub that links Nepal with rest of the world. In 1955 the airport was inaugurated by Late King Mahendra and renamed the Kathmandu airport in memory of his late father.

Jinnah International Airport in Karachi is the largest airport in Pakistan. The Airport witnessed a tremendous growth in passengers accounting for 6.6 million in fiscal year 2007-2008. At Jinnah International Airport the taxi-way is able to handle 12 aircraft at any one moment while the parking area measures 266,000 sq meters and is able to accommodate 42 aircrafts. The airport serves as base to Pakistan International AirLines (PIA), the flag carrier of Pakistan.

Kabul International Airport or Khwaja Rawash Airport in Afghanistan is expected to reach 100,000 passengers in 2011. The existing terminal at the Kabul International Airport has been refurbished and is currently being used for international and domestic flights.

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka is one of the busiest airports in Bangladesh. The Airport is a major aviation gateway to East of South Asia. It handled more than 4 million international passengers and 150,000 tons of freight annually. It is designed to handle the biggest planes in the world today. The Airport witnessed a tremendous growth and consists of two major terminals.

 

In recent years, millions of domestic and international travelers are using these airports, as tourism in the region is developing rapidly. To meet further growing demand the countries in South Asia need to partner with private sector operators to invest capital into these old airports to build state-of-the art airports with increased capacity in the next few years. These new developments in the aviation sector in South Asia will open further opportunities for numerous other sectors.

 

 (Source http://http://thediplomaticsociety.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227)

 

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