New Delhi, Feb 24 India’s alternate airports, built to reduce pressure on crowded metro hubs, are expected to reach a combined annual passenger handling capacity of around 40 million by the end of 2026, a new report said on Tuesday.
These airports are likely to play a crucial role in handling rising air travel demand as older airports in key metro regions operate close to their maximum limits, according to a report by Crisil Ratings.
The report said that over the next four financial years, further expansion at these alternate airports will increase their total capacity to handle 45-50 million passengers annually by fiscal 2030.
The growth will be supported by pent-up demand due to congestion at existing airports and the gradual expansion of catchment areas as connectivity improves.
However, the report cautioned that timely ramp-up of operations will be critical to ensure financial stability.
Crisil’s analysis focuses on operational and upcoming alternate airports located in the same regions as older airports, including the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Goa.
In metro regions such as NCR and MMR, older airports are already operating at around 87 per cent of their design capacity as of last fiscal.
Due to space constraints, these airports have limited scope for large expansion projects.
Ankit Hakhu, Director at Crisil Ratings, said that alternate airports in metro cities are expected to handle 20-25 per cent of the total regional traffic by fiscal 2030.
He added that scaling up both aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues during the first control period will be important for these new airports.
The report noted that the older Mumbai airport witnessed slower growth after fiscal 2017 due to capacity constraints, as it could not provide additional peak-hour slots to airlines.
In contrast, Delhi’s airport continued to grow during that period. However, Delhi too would have faced similar challenges over the medium term without the development of a second airport in the region.
Meanwhile, some other metro airports still have room to grow. Airports in Bengaluru and Hyderabad were operating at around 65 per cent of their design capacity last fiscal, leaving scope for expansion.
Looking ahead, India’s total airport passenger traffic is projected to increase from about 415 million this fiscal to nearly 580 million by fiscal 2030, implying a compound annual growth rate of 8-9 per cent.
The growth will be driven by strong economic activity, untapped demand for air travel and easing of capacity constraints at major airports.
Gauri Gupta, Team Leader at Crisil Ratings, said that alternate airports also face certain risks.
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