The BJP government appears to have revived the UPA government’s decision to set up a second airport for the NCR at Jevar in Uttar Pradesh.

Does Delhi-NCR need another airport? If it comes up, this new airport will be around 50 km from Rajghat and about 80 km from the existing airport, raising questions about how much business sense it makes to have two airports so close to each other.

The current airport is yet to reach saturation. During 2014-15, Delhi airport handled 40 million passengers, against an installed capacity of 62.5 million. It handled 0.7 million tonnes of cargo despite having an installed cargo capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.

Minister of state for aviation Mahesh Sharma made a compelling argument for a second airport, pointing out that cities such as Washington DC and New York had multiple airports and that Delhi’s infrastructure was not in a position to handle any more traffic.

Further, it is argued, given that the economy is growing and that air travel is becoming a preferred mode of transportation, as is shown by a monthly increase in the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines, it is a question of time before the airport in Delhi becomes saturated.

But letting electoral considerations drive that decision would be foolhardy. The second airport should come up only after a careful study involving the stakeholders — airlines, exporters and importers, travel agents and airport developers. A reputed agency needs to be commissioned to conduct a survey to establish the potential for a new airport in the city.

It is another matter that a second airport in the NCR region is likely to go the way of the proposed second airports for Mumbai and Goa — lots of talk, but no development on the ground.

Ashwini Phadnis, Senior Deputy Editor

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