IBNLive Chat: India can't be airport hub for S Asia

GROUND REALITIES: CNN-IBN aviation correspondent Karma Paljor in the ibnlive.com chat room.

People who read this also read:

Hyd, B'lore old airports to remain operational

But no commercial flights will be allowed to operate, says Govt.

• Airport employees set for indefinite strike
• Hyderabad, Bangalore old airports to be shut down

Featured Blog

Plastics and the environment!

Featured Slideshows

Ads by Google

Aditya Badami: I must say it is a great initiative by IBN do cover a critical area. My question relates to the new Bangalore Airport and Shri Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad. When the PPP spends 2500 crores to build world-class airports, why do we citizens complain about it? How does the choice of two airports suddenly come up? We had one airport earlier and how no one spoke of a choice then. Instead of being proud of a new Airport we crib? Is there a reason to this?

Karma Paljor: We did speak to the new airport operator GMR they said that they have a committee which is just looking at easing connectivity to the airport from the city. I think Bangalore has far more problems.

KK Venugopal: Before going in for the ultra modern airports, the authorities should look into the infrastructure around the airport, like proper connecting road, transportation facilities like food courts, which are not very expensive.

Karma Paljor: Yes, I definitely agree. Look at the chaos in Bangalore. It looks like there was no cooperation between the state authorities and airport operator.

Arunap: Are private airports justified in charging exorbitant UDF? For even a cup of coffee in the new Hyderabad airport, one has to shell out 100 bucks and why another 1000 for UDF?

Karma Paljor: No. The Airport Regulator( which is still to be formed by the government) should have the last say and protect consumers like you and me.

Sam: You have become an aviation expert now. Only media persons have the luxury to don the hat of an expert in any field they desire. But lesser mortals like us have to go through the grind for years to become and expert in any field. I have no interest in your blog or your opinion, as I do not consider you an expert in this field. I have seen hundreds of airports myself all over the world and can confidently say that Indian airports are absolutely the worst in the world. Why the electronic media was sleeping over the issue for years and decades?

Karma Paljor: I an not an expert. I am just moderating a simple chat session on an airport series that we as a team in CNN IBN have worked on. I am glad you have seen the world. We have been covering airport stories for a long time.

Chirag: While it is difficult to be a pioneer in doing something, coping something (good) that is already existing should be never difficult. My question is, why in India are we finding it so difficult to copy the facilities and operational methods that are being practiced in great airports around the world?

Karma Paljor: We have been slow in taking off. It is the case of waiting for demand to increase and then build. But the problem is by the time you build the demand would have overtaken supply.