Welcome to GIDB

Small Airport development opportunity in Gujarat

Gujarat possesses one of the largest airport infrastructures in the country, where an excellent trunk road infrastructure makes access to the nearest airport relatively easy. Thus most parts of the state are well covered in terms of access to an airport. However, specific demand for small airports / airstrips development at emerging Centres of Growth such as ports, entertainment zones, Economic or industrial zones and regions etc may arise. The following table tries to capture some of the potential locations where new airports may emerge. It also captures emerging airport projects if they are in the planning stage

Exhibit: Emerging Small New Airports and Airport Opportunities

Location	Driver	Connectivity Requirements	Present Status
Ankleshwar	Chemical Industry in Bharuch Ankleswar area/ PCPIR	Delhi, Mumbai	Semi finished airport in dormant stage. Civil Aviation Dept. GoG plans to lease the airfield to local industries association to complete balance work at a cost of Rs 20 crore approx
Mandvi	Development of Mandvi as Tourism Destination including for cruises	Mumbai, international locations	Airstrip with 5000 ft runway in operational stage. No Terminal building. Upgradation would be required.
Dwarka	Tourism and pilgrimage destination. Development of Poshitra port near Dwarka	Mumbai, Delhi International	No plans as yet. Nearest airport is Porbandar, 150 km Requirement would depend on successful development of tourism in the area
Mundra	Mundra Port and SEZ	Delhi, Mumbai, International locations	Aerodrome with 1900 m airstrip already established by MPSEZ Ltd. Will expand if required.
Ambaji	Tourism and pilgrimage destination	Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad	Civil Aviation Dept. plans to construct 7000 ft airstrip at a cost of Rs 10-15 crore under PPP format

While small airports may not be viable based on air side revenues alone, the following strategies could contribute in making them viable:

Bundling real estate development with airports development on PPP basis. Many states are already building airports in Tier II and Tier III towns through this strategy where the developer is allowed to commercial development of the site in an integrated manner so as to recover his investment by selling/leasing commercial property.
Operating small 40-50 seater aircraft where the fuel costs per seat kilometre are less than half of a larger aircraft. This can reduce the operational cost, thus making air travel cheaper.