AAI to purchase land at Bagdogra

BAGDOGRA/KOLKATA: Decks for the much-awaited expansion of Bagdogra airport have finally been cleared with the Airports Authority of India informing the state government of its willingness to make an exception to purchase the land needed for the project.
Earlier on Thursday, the AAI had in its board meeting approved payment of Rs 25 crore to the state government for the latter to purchase and hand over 110 acres land adjoining Bagdogra airport.Usually, the state provides the land for free and AAI incurs the cost of developing the facility. While the state had handed over 26 acres to AAI earlier that was utilised to install the instrument landing system, it had told AAI that it did not have the funds to purchase the land from the Mani division of Gangaram Tea Estate for the terminal building expansion.

According to sources, once the state hands over the land to AAI, it will take 24-30 months to complete the new terminal. That means a possible end to passenger woes in 2020-end or early 2021.
Bagdogra airport that is designed for 1 million passengers per annum handled more than twice the capacity last year. Such is the situation during the tourist season that passengers do not have space to even sit while waiting for flights.
With flights from Kolkata and Delhi going full, carriers are keen to operate more flights to the north Bengal airport. Apart from the prospect of more loads, they also get to lift aviation turbine fuel (ATF) sans VAT. AAI has had to turn down requests for additional frequency, citing overcrowding of the terminal building that is stretched way beyond capacity.
The Pakyong airport in Sikkim was expected to bring some relief to Bagdogra but weather uncertainties in Sikkim often forces the flight to land in Bagdogra.
“The runway and parking bays have capacity to accommodate more flights but the terminal building is over-saturated. Designed to handle 400-450 passengers per hour, the terminal has more than 1,000 passengers at any given moment. The situation gets even more challenging between noon and 3pm when seven flights land and five flights take off. An expansion is desperately needed,” another airport official said.
Minor changes have been made to add space. These include increasing security hold area on first floor, shifting the restaurant to another part of the building and churning more space in the checkin area of the ground floor by making adjustments near the section with the conveyor belts and the exit gate. “But there is a limit to which a facility can accommodate,” the official reasoned.