Vice President M Hamid Ansari on Thursday inaugurated the newly built international and domestic terminals at the airport here and upgraded air facilities, all completed at a cost of over Rs 2,000 crore by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In his address, Ansari said that Chennai airport is the 'premier' international gateway and air hub for South India, besides being the third busiest airport in the country. 'It has attained greater importance in view of India's Look East Policy due to which greater economic and commercial integration with countries of East Asia and South East Asia is taking place at a rapid pace.'
'Consequently, passenger and freight traffic to and from these countries is bound to rise in the times to come. With Chennai being the natural gateway due to geographical proximity, the upgrade and modernisation of the airport is a timely and appropriate initiative,' he said.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said with these two new terminals, the capacity of Chennai airport has been enhanced from nine million to 23 million passengers per annum. The annual cargo handling capacity has been enhanced from 3.2 lakh tonnes to 11 lakh tonnes, he added.
Better air services help improve competitiveness of industry and exports and by expanding the size of the market aviation acts as a 'spur' for innovation, said Ansari. With a 15 per cent compounded annual growth in air transport in India in the last 10 years, he said he has been told the Union government has given in-principle approval for 15 greenfield airports, with AAI upgrading and modernising 35 non-metro airports. 'These steps will definitely help in providing better facilities and connectivity to citizens in the coming decades,' he said.
The third busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, the secondary runway here has been extended by 1032 metres to a total length of 3117 metres by constructing a concrete bridge over river Adyar, he said. The growth in civil aviation in India has resulted making it the fastest growing markets in the world.
'Estimates suggest that domestic air traffic will touch 336 million passengers per annum in the next 10 years and the international traffic will exceed 84 million passengers,' said Singh, adding that the focus was shifting to the low cost carrier model.
'It is expected that this model will continue to prevail for achieving higher growth of domestic carriers in future also.' The government was focussing on providing air connectivity to tier II and III cities in the coming years and this could be achieved by operation of ‘right mix of airlines and development of low-cost, no -frills airports,' he said.
NARESH GOYAL, ETIHAD CEO MEET AJIT SINGH
Top Etihad Airways and Jet Airways executives on Thursday met Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh here amid the possibility of the Abu Dhabi-based carrier picking up 24 per cent stake in the premier Indian airline.
The Etihad delegation was led by its CEO James Hogan at the meeting, which was also attended by Jet Airways promoter Naresh Goyal.
While neither Hogan, nor Goyal spoke about the meeting, Singh said both airlines have been 'in consultation (over possible stake sale). So the Etihad delegation was here on Thursday. They were discussing details with Goyal.
Replying to questions, the Minister said, 'Any foreign airline investing money has many concerns —what's the policy, what's the cost structure (so that) you make money out of that. They have been discussing this deal for over a month. Since the government allowed FDI (by airlines), talks have been going on.' Asked by when the deal would be finalised, Singh merely said, 'It is up to them.' He said any agreement arrived at between the carriers 'should be within the regulatory framework.
'The government changed its FDI policy in aviation in September last year to allow foreign airlines to acquire up to 49 per cent stake in an Indian airline. Earlier this month, Jet had informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it was in talks with Etihad 'regarding a potential investment.
The discussions are in progress but no terms have been firmed up at present. Reports have said that Etihad may buy 24 per cent equity in Jet Airways, which is valued at about Rs 1,800 crore.
'Consequently, passenger and freight traffic to and from these countries is bound to rise in the times to come. With Chennai being the natural gateway due to geographical proximity, the upgrade and modernisation of the airport is a timely and appropriate initiative,' he said.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said with these two new terminals, the capacity of Chennai airport has been enhanced from nine million to 23 million passengers per annum. The annual cargo handling capacity has been enhanced from 3.2 lakh tonnes to 11 lakh tonnes, he added.
Better air services help improve competitiveness of industry and exports and by expanding the size of the market aviation acts as a 'spur' for innovation, said Ansari. With a 15 per cent compounded annual growth in air transport in India in the last 10 years, he said he has been told the Union government has given in-principle approval for 15 greenfield airports, with AAI upgrading and modernising 35 non-metro airports. 'These steps will definitely help in providing better facilities and connectivity to citizens in the coming decades,' he said.
The third busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, the secondary runway here has been extended by 1032 metres to a total length of 3117 metres by constructing a concrete bridge over river Adyar, he said. The growth in civil aviation in India has resulted making it the fastest growing markets in the world.
'Estimates suggest that domestic air traffic will touch 336 million passengers per annum in the next 10 years and the international traffic will exceed 84 million passengers,' said Singh, adding that the focus was shifting to the low cost carrier model.
'It is expected that this model will continue to prevail for achieving higher growth of domestic carriers in future also.' The government was focussing on providing air connectivity to tier II and III cities in the coming years and this could be achieved by operation of ‘right mix of airlines and development of low-cost, no -frills airports,' he said.
NARESH GOYAL, ETIHAD CEO MEET AJIT SINGH
Top Etihad Airways and Jet Airways executives on Thursday met Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh here amid the possibility of the Abu Dhabi-based carrier picking up 24 per cent stake in the premier Indian airline.
The Etihad delegation was led by its CEO James Hogan at the meeting, which was also attended by Jet Airways promoter Naresh Goyal.
While neither Hogan, nor Goyal spoke about the meeting, Singh said both airlines have been 'in consultation (over possible stake sale). So the Etihad delegation was here on Thursday. They were discussing details with Goyal.
Replying to questions, the Minister said, 'Any foreign airline investing money has many concerns —what's the policy, what's the cost structure (so that) you make money out of that. They have been discussing this deal for over a month. Since the government allowed FDI (by airlines), talks have been going on.' Asked by when the deal would be finalised, Singh merely said, 'It is up to them.' He said any agreement arrived at between the carriers 'should be within the regulatory framework.
'The government changed its FDI policy in aviation in September last year to allow foreign airlines to acquire up to 49 per cent stake in an Indian airline. Earlier this month, Jet had informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it was in talks with Etihad 'regarding a potential investment.
The discussions are in progress but no terms have been firmed up at present. Reports have said that Etihad may buy 24 per cent equity in Jet Airways, which is valued at about Rs 1,800 crore.