In Focus

A boon to the region

Joy Roy Choudhary finds out why the revamped Kolkata airport will drive the economic development of the north and north-eastern states

Kolkata Airport at Dum Dum is one of the biggest international airports in this part of the country. But now the existing infrastructure at the city's airport is under tremendous pressure following the entry of several low-cost carriers and international airlines into the sector in the last few years.

This has resulted in a 45 per cent rise in the number of flights and a 52 per cent jump in passenger traffic. Following this quantum increase in air-traffic and continued demand by the ruling Left front government of the State and the other stakeholders, the Union Cabinet has recently cleared a total revamp and expansion plan for the airport. The airport will be now revamped thoroughly in phases and upgraded to a world-class airport.

The airport recently 'renamed' Netaji Subhas International Airport is 20 kilometres from the city's central business district (CBD) and is gateway to the north-eastern states. Almost all the full-service airlines and low-cost carriers have direct services to and from the city. Kolkata airport has separate terminals for international and domestic flights. The country's first cargo terminal was commissioned at the airport on October 5, 1975.

Revamp plans

As per the Rs 1,500 crore Kolkata airport modernisation programme recently cleared by the Union civil aviation ministry, Airports Authority of India (AAI) will oversee the implementation of the project and the job will be given to a private partner. The project will be implemented on a turnkey basis. Work on the project is scheduled to start in early 2008 and is expected to be over by the middle of 2010.

"We are making a sincere attempt to give Kolkata a world-class airport and integrated terminal building," said Ashok Chawla, secretary, Union ministry of civil aviation in Kolkata recently. It is learnt that the modernisation programme will be completed in three phases and is estimated to cost Rs 5,000 crore. In the first phase, Rs 1,500 crore has been earmarked for the job.

Out of this Rs 1,300 crore will be spent on the terminals, Rs 100 crore on the runway and a cargo complex, and the remaining Rs 100 crore on Communication and Navigation Systems (CNS). Sources confirm that the globally renowned 'Aeroport de Paris' has already prepared the design of the new terminals. As per the proposed schedule, the Kolkata Airport modernisation programme should be completed before the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010.

The Detail Project Report (DPR) plans for two new terminals at the airport, an integrated large one for domestic and international flights, and another relatively small one just for international flights. The proposed buildings will have facilities for ground-floor arrival and first-floor departure to ease congestion.

There are plans to install four to five state-of-the-art aerobridges. New parking bays, some attached to the terminal and others in the 'remote' areas, will be built. The road network around the terminal buildings will be upgraded. "This will be taken up with the help of the state public works department," said an AAI official.

To cope up with the increasing number of passengers and cars, the DPR proposes a number of underpasses and pedestrian flyovers on the approach roads from VIP Road, the road connecting the airport to the city to the Kolkata airport. There are also plans to set up two new spacious car parks.

The revamped airport would be able to handle 20 million passengers annually compared to five million now. While the first terminal will have the capacity to handle 16 million passengers annually, the second will cater to four million passengers. At present, the domestic terminal handles not more than 4.5 million passengers a year and the international terminal hardly gets one million passengers.

An AAI official said that there is urgent need to revamp the airport. Recently, a 16-sq ft chunk of the runway peeled off, forcing its closure for three hours. A Jet Airways flight was about to land when the damage was detected. Last November, another strip of the runway came off when an aircraft made a sharp turn towards the taxing bay.

"The runway surface is mostly getting damaged in the touchdown zone, which can be dangerous," said the official. The aircraft can catch fire or meet other disasters', pointed out the official.

An IATA accredited travel agent and a senior member of TAFI (eastern region) who did not want to be named said, "Over the last few years the situation at the Kolkata airport is chaotic. With the entry of several low-cost carriers and other airlines into this sector, the Netaji Subhas International Airport at times resembles like a crowded railway station, so there is an urgent need for extension of the existing facilities at the airport. The news of the planned revamp of the airport is a boon for the region. It will facilitate the economic development of not only Bengal but also of neighbouring eastern and north-eastern states."

Cargo complex

Now coming to the issue of the international air cargo complex. It is located ½ kilometre north of international terminal building with well-connected road infrastructure for smooth functioning of air cargo services. The total area of the air cargo terminal is 9,993 square meter and its annual holding capacity including trans-shipment is 37,120 mt.

There are two parking bays exclusively for freighter fleet, which can accommodate up to B-737 type of aircraft. AAI has created this air-cargo terminal with various facilities for processing cargo in the terminal building at par with any international airport. All airline agencies and other agencies, which connected with the clearances and pre-shipment formalities, are in-housed in the air cargo complex. Most of the regulatory and facilitation were established under one roof.

The cargo terminal has three wings for processing of export, import cargo and unaccompanied baggage (import) besides disposal unit for disposal of unclaimed/uncleared cargo. The Kolkata International Air Cargo Terminal provides air cargo services to entire eastern and north-east region for transshipment cargo.

In international freight transactions it connects six regions in the world, which are enriched in global market, south Asian countries, Western countries, Middle East countries and Central Asia. But at the same time there are some problem areas too, inadequacy of warehousing space, absence of an exclusive terminal for the cargo agents at the cargo complex, lack of modern cargo handling equipment and systems, inadequate facilities for refrigerated cargo, lack of special infrastructure for agricultural and horticultural products and to top it all, the absence of a modern fully integrated cargo complex is always felt.

There has been virtually very little expansion of the warehousing space for exports in the complex. With the volume of traffic increasing, the space crunch is often causing a problem. Augmentation and upgradation of refrigerated cargo on priority basis and the creation of special infrastructure to promote exports of perishable-products like vegetables, fruits and flowers needs urgent attention.

So a fully modern cargo complex, once developed, can also act as the transshipment centre/gateway to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. It can also act as the transshipment centre for domestic cargo.

Nitai Boral, a flower-merchant hailing from an interior village of Bengal, who exports tuberose to some European nations said: "We have often felt the need for proper refrigeration facilities for storing exporting perishable items like flowers. With the upcoming revamp plan for the cargo complex we hope that things will improve in the coming years."

“The proposed upgradation of the Kolkata airport is a great news. It would not only fuel the industrial development of the state but also of the entire eastern and north-eastern region”, said a former functionary of Indian Chamber of Commerce.