CAPA India recommends creation of independent airports commission
1 min read 20 Jun 2018, 09:05 PM ISTCAPA India says the Airports Authority of India should be restructured into a holding company
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Mumbai: Aviation consultants CAPA India on Wednesday said the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the government agency responsible for creating, maintaining and managing airports, should be restructured into a holding company with independent and professionally-run subsidiaries that will require a new governance architecture and operating structure.
“The AAI is overburdened with multiple responsibilities and is not designed to be able to efficiently and effectively discharge them," said the CAPA India report titled ‘Designing the AAI of the Future under a new Airports Commission of India’.
The report stated that CAPA envisages the establishment of an independent Airports Commission of India (ACI), which will be responsible for preparing a strategic vision for the airport system, supported by a national master plan.
“This commission should be formed with a mandate to identify global benchmarks and sweat the current infrastructure at AAI airports to increase near-term system productivity of all AAI airports by 2-3x (two-three times), and to achieve significant productivity improvements for PPP (public private partnership) airports," the CAPA India report said.
The report said that though AAI has performed admirably within the constraints in which it operates—with its resources spread thin, and a shortage of capital, skills and bandwidth—the agency will struggle to deliver the airport and airspace system required to support one of the world’s largest and fastest growing aviation markets.
“The ACI should act as the central custodian for planning the national airport system for the long-term, at least up to 2050, that results in the creation of airport infrastructure across the country which supports growth for at least a generation," the report said.
CAPA expects the total traffic at Indian airports, which stood at 308.7 million during FY 2018, to grow to 1,622 million by FY 2033.
“India could face a capacity crisis without construction of 50 new airports over the next decade," the report said.
