Repair works affect flight operations at Ahmedabad airport

Tourist traffic is set to be impacted during summer holidays as airlines begin to reschedule or suspend flights from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) due to its only runway undergoing repair work.

Overdue since about two years, SVPIA has undertaken partial re-carpeting and repair of its 3.5 km long runway which will be extended fully from April 16 onwards.

According to A K Sharma, director, Airport Authority of India (AAI) at the Ahmedabad airport, the runway re-carpeting is likely to get over by March 2017.

Among airlines, while IndiGo has already announced suspension of its flights operated between 10 am and 6 pm connecting Ahmedabad to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Goa, Pune, and Indore, Jet Airways will be suspending its services for Mumbai, Delhi, Bhopal and Indore from Ahmedabad. Announcements from other airlines are awaited.

“We have not yet heard from any airlines on rescheduling or suspension of flights. Currently, re-carpeting work is on for a small portion of the runway. The entire 3.5 km length of runway will see repair work begin in full swing from April 16 which will result in flight operations being shut between 10 am to 6 pm. The work is likely to get finished by February-March 2017,” said Sharma.

The runway renovation is not likely to impact international traffic since 90% of international flights operate in the night at Ahmedabad airport.

However, domestic airlines like IndiGo and Jet Airways have announced rescheduling of flights till October 29, 2016, following which a revised winter schedule for the October-March period is likely to be announced.

“Please note that due to phase two of closure at Ahmedabad airport from 1000 to 1800 hours effective April 16, 2016, there would be changes in current flights,” an IndiGo spokesperson stated. While Indigo will be suspending seven flights from April 16 onwards, Jet Airways would be suspending four.

The move is likely to benefit Vadodara’s Civil Airport Harni which could see flight services being re-directed from Ahmedabad.

Admitting that the re-carpeting was “slightly overdue”, Sharma said that previously re-carpeting of the runway at the Ahmedabad airport took place eight years ago. At an estimated cost of Rs 27 crore, the runway re-carpeting work is set to impact passenger traffic at SVPIA, especially the summer holidays tourist inflow and outflow which had otherwise seen a 30% jump last year for the period April to June 2015.

During the summer holidays period of April-June 2015, more than 1.5 million passengers flew in and out of Ahmedabad airport, of which about 355,000 were international passengers while 1.27 were domestic passengers. The numbers saw a 30% rise over the said period last year.

Summer holidays period of April to June from 2012 to 2014 had seen less than 1.2 million passengers flying in and out of Ahmedabad airport, with economic slowdown being cited as the reason for affected travel plans.

Overall, with more than 160 flights operating daily, the average passenger traffic at SVPIA tends to be around 18,000. In 2014-15, Ahmedabad airport handled 5.05 million passengers including 3.83 million domestic and 1.22 million were international travellers.

As against this, the Ahmedabad airport handled 4.56 million passengers in 2013-14. AAI estimates the annual passenger handling by Ahmedabad airport to rise up to 6.77 million passengers by 2023-24.

Apart from passenger traffic, the runway re-carpeting work is also likely to impact the SVPIA’s revenues which have been growing steadily since past few years. Apparently, while Gujarat’s nine airports including Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot are incurring losses, the Ahmedabad airport has been a earning profits of over Rs 30 crore approximately.

Revenue of SVPIA grew by 10% and 5% in 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively. From Rs 196 crore in 2012-13, the Ahmedabad airport’s revenue, which comes from airport development fee, user development fee and parking charges paid by airlines, grew to Rs 217 crore in 2013-14 and Rs 229 crore in 2014-15.