India infrastructure fails to keep pace with air traffic growth

New Delhi

AT last week's Farnborough Air Show, an Indian carrier placed a US$7.7 billion order while an additional US$72 billion of contracts are in the offing. The next challenge: Finding landing and parking slots for these planes.

As air travel heats up in the world's fastest-growing major aviation market, infrastructure has failed to keep pace with traffic growth fuelled by rising incomes and affordable fares. The average time an aircraft spends circling before it can land in Mumbai during peak hours is about 45 minutes to an hour, versus 25 minutes for Singapore and zero for Qatar, according to Dubai-based Martin Consulting LLC.

India plans to invest US$5 billion to improve airport infrastructure, which is "inadequate" compared with China's proposal for US$130 billion in 15 years, a June research paper by KPMG and the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India said. A proposal for a new airport in the outskirts of Mumbai has languished on the drawing board since 1997 even as Boeing Co estimates …