A year since its inauguration by PM Narendra Modi, Rajkot International Airport at Hirasar has not been able to attract airlines to run global operations. Concerns about passenger traffic and consistency have kept the airlines from running international flights from this airport. Now, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is thinking about offering incentives to the airlines to start international operations.
The authorities had initially predicted that the airport would be handling international flights by April 2024. However, no airline has submitted any proposal to launch international flights from Rajkot yet.
Reportedly, airlines feel that Rajkot, despite being the biggest city in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region, will not be able to keep up with the passenger traffic for the airlines in the longer run. Seeing this, AAI is thinking about offering international and domestic carriers some significant incentives to run operations from here.
It might offer discounts to airlines on various charges levied by the airport, like landing charges and route navigation facility charges. The airport authority charges airlines in lieu of allowing the landing of aircraft at its airports. They believe these incentives will be enough to attract airlines to operate international flights, despite the low passenger load factor. These discounts and incentives will be available for both international and domestic airlines.
Gujarat currently has international airports in Ahmedabad and Surat, Meanwhile, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Bhuj, Kandla, Keshod, Porbandar, Bhavnagar and Amreli have domestic airports. To decongest the load on the two international airports in the state, AAI has been insistent on beginning international operations at the Rajkot Airport.
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