India Air Traffic Issues to Come

As India increases its economic growth the populationneeded. This of course is great news for Boeing and
is taking to the air in travel and more and more areAirbus.
flying. Commercial Aviation traffic has increased tenIndia is also well located for the international traveler as
fold in te last five years and is expected to do soa hub city to the Middle East, Europe and Asia as it sits
again. India will need to set up the latest in air trafficalong most direct routes and perfect for the World's
control to handle the crowed skies. Additionally India'straveling business crowds. But can the airports handle
private aircraft markets are increasing too along with athe demand as the airlines buy more and more jets
brand new general aviation manufacturing sector.and the demand for air travel increases? Parking alone
Many of India's smaller airports are dirt strips and inis a huge issue, as the number of automobiles in the
need of upgrade. There are major infrastructurecountry is also skyrocketing as citizens gain access to
projects needed to help these airports. Meanwhilethe middle class.
aviation experts warn of air-traffic snarls and eminentAs aircraft become larger there are even more issues
safety issues. There are 100 civil airports in India andas a 747 or the new Airbus A380 unloading puts
twelve are international airports. Meanwhile India's airline1000's of people in the terminal all at once and
passenger traffic is expected to exceed 50 million inconnecting flights wait for the bottle neck. The issues
less than five years and that is at the current growthare huge. New runways, taxi ways, landing systems,
rates. One industry insider stated in a major Indianair traffic control towers, terminals, parking, emergency
newspaper; ''We won't be able to handle all passengerservices, environmental care, conveyor belts, check in
traffic in coming years as is being envisaged now."systems, security, cargo warehouses, IT Systems,
One consulting firm determined that it would take overcomputers, air-conditioning and all the private sector
20 billion in capital investment to bring the airports intohotels, car rentals, ground transportation interface and
normal safety compliance of other countries in thetrucking terminals. Think about how big this really is for
next decade, some think much more as thingsa country growing this fast?
progress. Thirty Billion in new airline aircraft haveIf you are traveling to India expect delays, traffic,
already been ordered from Boeing and Airbus andinconvenience as the airports work thru their growing
more are expected in the next two-years. Somepains. In the United States we know all too well the
industry analysts believe the number of new jetstruth of that advice, imagine the problem times ten.
ordered of 490 is less than a third of what will beThink on this.