Can Hindon AFB Land be Swapped with Jewar Airport?

tarunraju

Sanathan Pepe
Mod
Joined
Sep 18, 2009
Messages
9,080
Likes
40,077
Country flag
The NCR needs a second airport, as people living in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, or even north/NE parts of Delhi city find it a nightmare to get to IGIA. A distant airport also keeps investments away, as MNCs with traveling professionals would prefer a location like Gurugram or Faridabad to set up shop instead.

When you spend more time in the cab getting to the airport than the duration of the flight itself, you know you need a new airport.

Centre and UP government have, however, made an illogical proposal to set up NCR's second airport in Jewar. I had to look up the place, and it appears to be in the middle of nowhere. Someone living in Ghaziabad or Noida has to spend a similar amount of time getting to this airport as IGIA, even though a bulk of the journey will be over the Yamuna Expressway.

Could the Government of India, instead of building an international airport at Jewar, build a new Indian Air Force base from the ground-up, with all the bells and whistles as Hindon AFB, and relocate Hindon AFB to the new site; and use its land to build a new international airport? The current Hindon AFB sits on enough land to build an airport the size of Mumbai's CSIA. It may not have the land geometry for a greenfield H-type airport (like BLR or HYD), but you should still be able to build crisscrossing runways like Mumbai, and clock >250,000 movements/annum (~40 million passengers).

Since Jewar is under 80 km from Hindon, what are the strategic implications of relocating the AFB there, on interception, BMD, wartime, etc.?
 

mayfair

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
6,032
Likes
13,109
Gurgaon is quite close to the IGI airport isn't it? Connected by an expressway and metro links in the future- if the airport express if extended there. Plus, IGIA is close to the economic hub of Delhi/NCR i.e. South, Central (NDMC) and West Delhi, CP and nearby areas that host many corporate headquarters and institutions. I will not be surprised if this is where the bulk of the travellers are coming from, since most affluent people live here.

Yes, a case can be made for folks from NE Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad. But the solution lies not just in making another airport, but in creating better access links. The new Metro link between Aerocity and Tughlaqabad with extension to Noida should help. Delhi also needs the peripheral ring road to carry the traffic from Noida/Ghaziabad all the way to airport and elsewhere in NCR without having to travel along the Ring Road, Outer Ring Road or the Mehrauli- Badarpur road.

If the new airport is to come up, why can't it be build in Greater Noida? Too close to the existing IGIA?
 

tarunraju

Sanathan Pepe
Mod
Joined
Sep 18, 2009
Messages
9,080
Likes
40,077
Country flag
Most greenfield airport private operators signed idiotic, anti-competitive contracts with the government stating that no other commercial/passenger airports can be operated within 150 km radius of them.

Here in Hyderabad, there have been numerous proposals to refurbish the old Begumpet airport into a "Secunderabad domestic airport" serving LCCs and UDAN carriers (low-cost carriers, such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, Alliance Air, TruJet, etc.), because people living in northern Hyderabad find it a pain to get to RGIA (Hyderabad's greenfield airport). It makes little sense to take a 1000-rupee Uber 1.5 hr cab ride to RGIA, go through 45 mins of airport formalities, and take a 2500-rupee, 1 hour flight to Vijayawada and another 500-rupee cab ride to the city-center, when you can just drive there in your own car in 4 hours, with 1500 rupees worth diesel. Any proposal to refurbish Begumpet has been blocked by GHIAL (operators of RGIA).

As if that wasn't ridiculous enough, people of Bidar Karnataka (a different fucking state), have been deprived of an airport to get to their capital city Bengaluru, just because Bidar happens to be within the 150 km radius of RGIA. They have to endure a 3 hour drive to Hyderabad just to catch a flight to Bengaluru, or cope with a 12-hour drive to Bengaluru on their own roads.

Bangaloreans face a similar problem involving people living in the southern parts of the city having to go far-north to catch a flight, and want the old HAL airport refurbished.
 

mayfair

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
6,032
Likes
13,109
I think many cities, airports are located some distance away from the city centres. It's useful since, airports will need land to expand and also because of noise regulations. The key is in providing better connectivity to the airport from far flung areas, by means of rapid transit systems- trains, buses and expressways. Taking taxis and paying for a two way fare is common, because people do not really have any options.

Someone from Bommasandra or Koramangala or Marathahalli should be able to reach BIAL quickly via expressways or express trains. Now imagine a rapid trains from Devanahalli to Bommasandra via Yelahanka, Hebbal, Maleshwaram, Majestic/Shivaji Nagar/MG Road, Koramangala etc. This will ensure that people move quickly to and from the airport. Of course, whether it will actually happen, is a different story. But as the DMRC airport express has shown, the idea can work, even if it takes time to catch on.

A second airport, unless it's economically viable, will not help, since it will never be able to recover its investment and will be a drain on resources. Bengalore HAL airport or Hyderabad Begumpet airport can be reopened to service LCCs, but it remains unclear if the LCC/UDAN traffic will be enough to cover their operating expenses. Do remember, airports have started tapping into other sources of income as well and in terminal shopping is a huge aspect of it. LCC/UDA exclusive terminals will have little benefit on this account.

It becomes necessary to have a second airport in cities such as Mumbai where CSIA has reached saturation and cannot expand further, so the Navi Mumbai airport is the only viable solution. In Delhi, IGIA still has the capacity to expand and grow and such as new airport will make less financial sense, when the existing one has all the infrastructure available.
 

aditya g

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Messages
1,962
Likes
4,651
Country flag
International airport regulations dictate minimum 150 Km distance b/w 2 international airports.
 

Innocent

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2017
Messages
486
Likes
839
Country flag
@aditya g But the proposed Navi Mumbai and Mumbai Airport doesnt have that much distance between them.
 

Screambowl

Ghanta Senior Member?
Senior Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2015
Messages
7,950
Likes
7,908
Country flag
International airport requires nice surrounding.. go and see surroundings near Hindon. There is no place for commercial activities like MNC, Hotels, restaurants Parking...

And Jewar is for tourist enrouted to Agra and East India reducing the Load on IGI and traffic in Delhi.

Jewar is selected because most of the flights approach fly over Palwal Faridabad and then takes a 90 degree banking over Gaziabad .. so rather entering Gaziabad they will be decending over Palwal to 5000 feet and landing at Jewar.

Other reason is , if you make Hindon as civil airport, the traffic jam will further increase for both inbound and out bound traffic from Delhi.
 
Last edited:

tarunraju

Sanathan Pepe
Mod
Joined
Sep 18, 2009
Messages
9,080
Likes
40,077
Country flag
International airport requires nice surrounding.. go and see surroundings near Hindon. There is no place for commercial activities like MNC, Hotels, restaurants Parking...
Hindon AFB's surroundings are still better than CSIA (Mumbai), which is basically a slum. You're greeted with piles of slum and shit as you land in Mumbai. The idea here is that MNCs look to invest big in Noida and Ghaziabad as an airport would be within their vicinity.

And Jewar is for tourist enrouted to Agra and East India reducing the Load on IGI and traffic in Delhi.

Jewar is selected because most of the flights approach fly over Palwal Faridabad and then takes a 90 degree banking over Gaziabad .. so rather entering Gaziabad they will be decending over Palwal to 5000 feet and landing at Jewar.

Other reason is , if you make Hindon as civil airport, the traffic jam will further increase for both inbound and out bound traffic from Delhi.
That makes sense, thanks.
 

tarunraju

Sanathan Pepe
Mod
Joined
Sep 18, 2009
Messages
9,080
Likes
40,077
Country flag
Bengalore HAL airport or Hyderabad Begumpet airport can be reopened to service LCCs, but it remains unclear if the LCC/UDAN traffic will be enough to cover their operating expenses. Do remember, airports have started tapping into other sources of income as well and in terminal shopping is a huge aspect of it. LCC/UDA exclusive terminals will have little benefit on this account.
Oh it will. Two of Hyderabad's busiest domestic sectors are HYD-VTZ and HYD-BLR, and after state-bifurcation, Vijayawada's air-traffic has really picked up, you have plenty of HYD-VGA flights. If they restrict Begumpet to LCCs/UDAN carriers with <1 hour flight time, with a limited number of domestic sectors, such as HYD-VTZ, HYD-BLR, HYD-RJY, HYD-VGA, HYD-TIR, HYD-NGP, HYD-PNQ, and HYD-IXU, the airport will easily clock 6 million pax/yr, with potential to hit 10 million pax/yr over the next 5 years. Begumpet has a big enough apron for five simultaneous narrow-body jetliners (A320/B737) and a dozen turboprops (ATR72/Q400). You can give the terminal a few basic retali/F&B outlets (a coffee shop, a snack bar, a convenience store), and people will be happy with that. A Rs 50 crore investment (not including fresh IATA/ICAO/DGCA paperwork) is all that it takes to put Begumpet airport back on its feet.
 

Screambowl

Ghanta Senior Member?
Senior Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2015
Messages
7,950
Likes
7,908
Country flag
Hindon AFB's surroundings are still better than CSIA (Mumbai), which is basically a slum. You're greeted with piles of slum and shit as you land in Mumbai. The idea here is that MNCs look to invest big in Noida and Ghaziabad as an airport would be within their vicinity.

MNC will move from there.. there is no place left the real estate is already down.. what MNC is going to do..
This is the most nonsensical and worst than worst idea I have ever come across to convert Hindon into civil.
We want crowd to move out of delhi its like bringing more crowd into NCR
 

tarunraju

Sanathan Pepe
Mod
Joined
Sep 18, 2009
Messages
9,080
Likes
40,077
Country flag
MNC will move from there.. there is no place left the real estate is already down.. what MNC is going to do..
This is the most nonsensical and worst than worst idea I have ever come across to convert Hindon into civil.
We want crowd to move out of delhi its like bringing more crowd into NCR
Again, I'm not talking about investments within the 5~10 km radius of Hindon, but greater investments into Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, etc., which have to cope with a shorter travel time to the airport (based in Hindon) than the 50+ km drive to Jewar, even if through Yamuna Expy. I know plenty of product managers and execs who dread having to travel from HYD/BLR/BOM to DEL and reach campuses in east/north-eastern parts of NCR. They can never do a dawn-to-dusk trip. They can do that when they have business in Gurgaon or New Delhi.
 

captscooby81

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2016
Messages
7,022
Likes
26,823
Country flag
Well both Begumpet and HAL in bangalore should be used for LCC and turbo prop routes and the remaining be handled by the international airports ..

Bidar finally has got some support in the new UDAN scheme launched by the govt where it will be connected to hyderabad and bangalore very soon ..

Most greenfield airport private operators signed idiotic, anti-competitive contracts with the government stating that no other commercial/passenger airports can be operated within 150 km radius of them.

Here in Hyderabad, there have been numerous proposals to refurbish the old Begumpet airport into a "Secunderabad domestic airport" serving LCCs and UDAN carriers (low-cost carriers, such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, Alliance Air, TruJet, etc.), because people living in northern Hyderabad find it a pain to get to RGIA (Hyderabad's greenfield airport). It makes little sense to take a 1000-rupee Uber 1.5 hr cab ride to RGIA, go through 45 mins of airport formalities, and take a 2500-rupee, 1 hour flight to Vijayawada and another 500-rupee cab ride to the city-center, when you can just drive there in your own car in 4 hours, with 1500 rupees worth diesel. Any proposal to refurbish Begumpet has been blocked by GHIAL (operators of RGIA).

As if that wasn't ridiculous enough, people of Bidar Karnataka (a different fucking state), have been deprived of an airport to get to their capital city Bengaluru, just because Bidar happens to be within the 150 km radius of RGIA. They have to endure a 3 hour drive to Hyderabad just to catch a flight to Bengaluru, or cope with a 12-hour drive to Bengaluru on their own roads.

Bangaloreans face a similar problem involving people living in the southern parts of the city having to go far-north to catch a flight, and want the old HAL airport refurbished.
 

Screambowl

Ghanta Senior Member?
Senior Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2015
Messages
7,950
Likes
7,908
Country flag
but greater investments into Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida,
Gaziabad , Noida and greater noida is full of investment and now builders are bankcorrut they don't have money. Most of the people are waiting past 6 years to get the residence they booked by paying lacs of money..

There are already so many projects going on. Even the malls. Gaziabad is congested now. They want to exapand. The most of the IT and all those commercial set will move towards Jewar along express way.

By the way if you are staying in greater noida and noida extentsion it's alread 45+ - 60 km



It's all about traffic jam and congestion. If you have an airport in Gaziabad it will further congest the things.
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

Articles

Top