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Air Deccan now moots no-frills airports

Capt GR Gopinath kicked off an exercise to get state govts to invest in no-frills airports to expand the airline map.

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HYDERABAD: After low-cost airlines, it is now time for low-cost commercial airports. At least that is what Air Deccan managing director Capt G R Gopinath believes and is working on.

The uncharacteristic poster boy of the low-cost airline industry in India has kicked off an exercise to get state governments to invest in no-frills airports to expand the airline map. Gopinath kicked off the exercise with Andhra Pradesh on Sunday on the sidelines of the ongoing 55th Indian Travel Congress, organised by the Travel Agents Association of India. While small cities like Cuddapah and Warangal in the state are the immediate targets for such low-cost commercial airports, there is scope for at least six to seven such “bush strips,” Gopinath impressed upon Andhra chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

The two are slated to meet again next week to take the proposal forward, with Gopinath presenting a detailed proposal.

In a bid to expand the airline industry’s footprint, Gopinath has also approached several other state governments including Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, and Jharkhand to get them to underwrite 50% of the seats as an encouragement for LCCs to start services from the hinterland. Given the small size of the aircraft, this works out to just 25 seats per flight, he said.

The country has at least 450 airports, most of them grass strips, which are underutilised or in fact not used at all. Most of these can be effectively mobilised to cater to the burgeoning air travel industry, Gopinath stressed. He sought a time-bound action plan from Reddy to make this happen in Andhra Pradesh.

The growth is in smaller towns, Gopinath averred. At the same time, he made a case for budget terminals at airports in metros and other Tier-I cities. “We have already spoken to GMR for setting up such terminals at Delhi and the upcoming Hyderabad airport to specifications and designs provided by us,” he told reporters later.

“Great cities must have at least two airports so as to ensure that the monopoly situation is not exploited,” he said.

“As it is, our airport charges are higher than international airports, and we have asked for pricing as per the services rendered by the airports,” he said.

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