Ghost Airports Emerge Amid India’s Aviation Boom
Deoghar airport in Jharkhand! (Image X.com)
Despite the government’s push to double airports to 350 by 2047 under its ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision, newly built facilities in smaller towns—from Kushinagar to Sindhudurg—remain underused, exposing gaps in demand planning and aviation strategy.
By SANJAY SINGH
NEW DELHI, September 17, 2025—India’s civil aviation dream is in for a reality check. While the government has painted a glittering picture of doubling the number of airports to 350 by 2047, the ground reality shows many newly inaugurated airports are already struggling to attract passengers, raising uncomfortable questions about planning and sustainability.
Since 2014, the Modi government has added 88 new airports, expanding connectivity across metro, tier-2, and tier-3 cities. The Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu recently reiterated the ambitious target, arguing that infrastructure expansion is central to the vision of a “Viksit Bharat.” Yet, the mismatch between infrastructure supply and actual passenger demand is becoming evident.
Airports such as Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, built with high expectations, have seen airlines scale back operations due to low footfalls. Some have even earned the tag of “ghost airports.” This is not just a failure of demand estimation but also of ecosystem planning—new airports often lack adequate feeder transport, airline route viability, and local economic drivers to sustain steady passenger flow.
The problem extends beyond empty terminals. Many of these facilities face low non-aeronautical revenue per passenger, coupled with high operational costs, making them financially unsustainable. Airlines, operating on thin margins, cannot afford to service routes where load factors remain consistently low.
Industry experts argue that the government’s approach risks being overly construction-driven, prioritizing ribbon-cutting over long-term viability. NITI Aayog, in a recent report, cautioned that aggressive bidding under public-private partnerships (PPP) could delay projects or leave them stalled midway, eroding investor confidence.
To be fair, the government’s optimism isn’t unfounded. Rising disposable incomes, regional economic growth, and the popularity of schemes like UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) may eventually expand the flying base. But without addressing fundamental gaps—last-mile connectivity, pricing strategies, and airline incentives—airports in smaller towns risk becoming monuments of misplaced ambition rather than engines of growth.
India’s aviation story remains one of potential, but the turbulence at newly built airports suggests that runways alone cannot create demand. Unless policy shifts from infrastructure quantity to ecosystem quality, the dream of 350 thriving airports by 2047 may remain stuck on the tarmac.
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