An official document stated that the Airport Authority of India (AAI) spent around INR 4 crores in 2018-19 to maintain 26 airports that have no flight operations. The maintenance cost has increased INR 1.36 crore from the previous financial year (2017-18), which was INR 2.66 crores.
The 26 non-operational airports are located in places such as Donakonda in Andhra Pradesh; Daparizo in Arunachal Pradesh; Rupsi and Shella in Assam; Jogbani, Muzaffarpur, Raxaul in Bihar; Deesa in Gujarat; Chakulia and Deogarh in Jharkhand; Panna, Satna and Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh; Aizawl in Mizoram; Nadirgul and Warangal in Telangana; Vellore and Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu; Kailashahar, Kamalpur and Khowai in Tripura; Bareilly and Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh; Asansol, Balurghat and Malda in West Bengal.
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Within the spent amount, INR 85 lakhs was spent by AAI to maintain the non-operational airport at Vellore in Tamil Nadu. To maintain the airports at Warangal in Telangana and Kailashahar in Tripura, the AAI spent INR 56 lakhs and INR 48 lakhs in 2018-19, respectively. For the non-operational airports that are situated in Rupsi in Assam and Jogbani in Bihar, the maintenance cost was about INR 35 lakhs and INR 28 lakhs respectively.
AAI is already managing 100 operational airports across the country.
In another development, Boeing and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have signed a pact for developing a comprehensive 10-year Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) modernization roadmap for India. Boeing will analyze the current technologies and processes in India. It will identify efficiency improvement gaps and states developments that can be implemented while maintaining an effective and safe airspace system.
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