Govt to upgrade Juhu airport for Rs 20 bn

Media reports indicate that the union government approved a Rs 2,000 crore project to extend the runway of Juhu airport in Mumbai by 650 metre into the sea. The project, which is part of the overall plan to redevelop the airport, is intended to begin operation of private jet and small turboprop and ATR in the airport. This would enable the Juhu airport to share some traffic of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International (CSI) Airport, which is facing congestion. The project, which involves realigning and extending the main runway on stilts, may be completed before 2017, when the Mumbai airport is forecast to get saturated. Once the project is completed, the airport may take 15 percent of aircraft traffic from CSI and would bring down the congestion considerably. By the time this 15 percent capacity is used, the Navi Mumbai airport should be ready, reports suggest. The Juhu airport runway would be parallel to the main runway at CSI, and the two airports would be able to handle landings and take off simultaneously. The Juhu airport would also continue to cater to helicopter operations using its second, smaller runway. “A feasibility study has been done, the official said. The concerned authorities would take a decision on whether the project would be handled by Airports Authority of India (AAI) or through a public-private partnership.