With an unprecedented 40 per cent growth in the domestic air traffic during the first nine months of 2007, India’s civil aviation minister Praful Patel said 20 more civilian airports would go operational next year.
By the end of 2008 nearly 100 airports in the country would be operational compared to just 80 now, he said recently. Aside from green field projects in Bangalore and Hyderabad, several smaller airports like Durgapur and Asansol are also expected to go operational next year.
Patel also expressed optimism over the growth of cargo traffic, saying:. "Th ere will be enough requirement on the part of white goods manufacturers and exporters to transport flowers, perishable goods and white goods such as telephone sets and desktop computers by air in the future."
"There are logistics companies such as FedEx and UPS in the US, which have over 700 aircraft and I don’t see any reason India should be far behind," he said. "Logistics infrastructure is being developed across the country and we want airlines, both public and private, to have more cargo planes."