India's second airports: Distance, deals and the real debate

A long-running discussion on Indian aviation policy has been rekindled by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's recent announcement to build a greenfield airport at Amaravati.

How near are two international airports in the same area?

Critics claim that Amaravati's airport plan is illogical because the Vijayawada International Airport is only 32 km away. The actual question is whether airports' physical closeness to one another constitutes a legally binding restriction or if there are other, less obvious factors at work.

Rule of distance

There are no official guidelines from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that establish a strict minimum distance between two international airports. Although a 150-km gap between greenfield airports was formerly recommended in a general guideline, this has long been regarded as a case-by-case analysis rather than a strict ban.

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The distance criteria have been rendered moot by approvals for other airport pairings, such as Hosur and Bengaluru (about 52 km distant) or Jewar and Delhi (about 61 km).

Expert's view

Devesh Agarwal, an aviation expert, a former president of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) and Lockheed Martin Innovation Medal laureate, told The Federal that the regulator does not have a general rule requiring two international airports to be 150 km apart.

"The two parties can strike individual agreements and do not have to abide by any regulators’ norms," he stated.

According to these examples, being close to an airport is not a disqualifier in and of itself. Instead, regulators evaluate each plan using operational safety, traffic demand and other general infrastructure requirements.

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For example, the approval of Delhi's second airport at Jewar was mainly done to alleviate the Indira Gandhi International Airport's congestion and satisfy the growing demand for air travel throughout the National Capital Region.

Similar to this, the Hosur airport concept depends on expanding regional connectivity outside of Bengaluru's congested hub and catering to a specific demographic catchment.

Issue of distance

No written regulation requires a new airport to be situated at a certain distance from another, even though the DGCA's civil aviation requirements include several technical and safety issues such as radar separation, air traffic control equipment and runway clearances.

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However, the operational safety and technological viability of overseeing several airports in the same airspace are the main concerns of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the DGCA.

An extensive airspace restructuring project that included sophisticated simulation models, flight-path redesigns and validation of dual-airport operation rules was required before the approval of the Noida International Airport, which is situated near Delhi's current airport. The outcome was a green light based on the airspace and control systems' capacity to manage both sites safely and effectively rather than distance.

Clause of concession

What, besides distance, would prevent the construction of a second airport similar to Amaravati?

The economic foundations of airport growth, particularly the concession agreements between public agencies and commercial airport operators, may hold the key to the solution. These agreements frequently contain exclusivity provisions that shield the operator from adjacent competitors for a predetermined amount of time.

The reasoning is straightforward: the developer must guarantee market stability and return on investment in order to draw investment, particularly for capital-intensive infrastructure like airports. A rival airport closing too soon could reduce revenue and jeopardise the project's financial stability.

Contract enforcement

In many situations, opposition to additional airports stems from contract enforcement rather than regulations. The difficulty arises in balancing the public interest and regional growth goals with private contractual obligations. However, there is a way out of this predicament with IATA's directive.

According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) guidance, a "Balanced Concession" strategy can harmonise the interests of various stakeholders, including government agencies, concessionaires, airlines, passengers and local communities.

This strategy acknowledges that parties may have common interests rather than hostile goals throughout the airport concession lifecycle.

The case of Amaravati

The project's opponents in Amaravati have cited the city's close proximity to Vijayawada International Airport as a deterrent. However, this ignores the fundamental problem and precedence.

Given the precedent set by Jewar and Hosur, the DGCA is unlikely to ban the airport based only on distance.

The provisions of the airport operation contract in Vijayawada could be the most likely source of opposition if there is such a clause on exclusivity. Any greenfield project like Amaravati would need a renegotiation or compensation mechanism if it incorporates exclusivity terms that limit new development within a specific radius or time frame.

Business dispute

As a result, the matter becomes a business dispute rather than a regulatory one.

According to the IATA directive, the interests of the contractual parties may take precedence over those of other stakeholders, such as airport airline customers, who often have a limited role in contributing to the concession arrangement.

The case of Jewar Airport is especially interesting. Technical due diligence and a well-coordinated policy justification – capacity expansion, economic development in western Uttar Pradesh and airspace decongestion in Delhi – were required for its approval.

Hosur airport, a regional feeder

Like the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, Hosur is meant to reach a distinct demographic and act as a regional feeder rather than a direct rival.

In both situations, stakeholders – including state governments, commercial developers and aviation authorities – aligned their policies and had complementary goals, which were more important than geographic proximity.

The Amaravati airport proposal does not appear fundamentally wrong compared to regulatory precedent. The DGCA's decision-making process obviously does not prioritise distance.

Instead, the parameters of the concession agreement for the current airport and the larger economic justification for constructing a second international gateway in the area will determine if the project is feasible.

The limitations in India's rapidly growing civil aviation sector are contractual and political rather than topographical or technical. As authorities seek to scale up infrastructure to meet demand, the emphasis must move from arbitrary distance requirements to open, stakeholder-driven frameworks that strike a balance between sustainability and competition.

The tiny print is more important in the Amaravati argument than what is depicted on the map.

Restructuring Noida International Airport's (NIA) airspace

Integration and management of airspace

Two-airport system: Regional airspace was thoroughly reorganised to control the expected increase in aviation traffic and guarantee that both airports can function effectively without endangering their capacity or security.

Procedures for instrument flight (IFPs): Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and Standard Terminal Arrivals (STARs) are two advanced instrument flying procedures that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has created and finalised, especially for NIA. These protocols are intended for airlines operating in the Delhi-Mumbai corridor to cut track miles and flight durations, optimise flight patterns, and lower emissions.

Cooperation and simulation: Using the Total Airspace and Airport Modeler (TAAM), AAI worked with Boeing India to conduct in-depth simulation and conflict analysis. As a result, new arrival and departure procedures could be validated, guaranteeing secure aircraft separation at both NIA and Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

Operational efficiency: The new airspace design is anticipated to increase productivity, lessen controllers' workloads, and uphold strict safety regulations. A domestic airline has flight-validated the processes, and the DGCA has approved their use.

Modular extension: The airport's master plan calls for a gradual extension, including airspace planning to handle future capacity development as demand rises.