With reference to A K Bhattacharya's column, "Turning airports into railway stations" (October 14), the author has spoken the truth. During peak hours city airports do look like railway stations such as Dadar in Mumbai, with long queues everywhere from check-in to boarding. Flights regularly get delayed at Mumbai and Delhi airports, apparently due to congestion on the runway. Often, the duration of a flight is extended as it cannot land on the runway. As flights arrive late, flyers are forced to wait after boarding the aircraft.
The columnist has meticulously explained with the help of statistics that the present capacity of airports is inadequate during peak hours and considering the rate at which passenger traffic is growing, even commissioning a second airport would not solve the problem.
One question that arose in my mind is whether the architects considered average traffic or peak-hour traffic while designing these airports. I think they should take into account peak-hour traffic when designing the airports.
As the columnist has rightly pointed out, rising airfare might reduce passenger load, but this would make railway journeys miserable. The solution is to execute the capacity expansion projects soon after confirming the data on passenger traffic, both for air and rail travel.
It does not make sense to delay execution of projects - the Navi Mumbai airport project is an example - for lack of data or land acquisition.
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The columnist has meticulously explained with the help of statistics that the present capacity of airports is inadequate during peak hours and considering the rate at which passenger traffic is growing, even commissioning a second airport would not solve the problem.
One question that arose in my mind is whether the architects considered average traffic or peak-hour traffic while designing these airports. I think they should take into account peak-hour traffic when designing the airports.
As the columnist has rightly pointed out, rising airfare might reduce passenger load, but this would make railway journeys miserable. The solution is to execute the capacity expansion projects soon after confirming the data on passenger traffic, both for air and rail travel.
It does not make sense to delay execution of projects - the Navi Mumbai airport project is an example - for lack of data or land acquisition.
Ashok Chakrabarty Kolkata
Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201
E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number