Nagpur Airport to invest Rs20 crore in apron, other facilities

Mumbai: Mihan India Private Limited (MIPL), the owner of the Nagpur Airport, plans to construct an additional apron for parking aircraft and add other facilities such as a car-park, visitors gallery and gradients for easy passenger and luggage movement, a top company official said.

It is also in the final stages of floating a global tender for a restaurant in the Airport.

"Our aim is to make the airport passenger-and-airline-friendly for all stakeholders. We will add an apron and enhance other facilities," MIPL's chairman and managing director, RC Sinha, told PTI here.

"Around Rs15-crore will be invested in the apron which can accommodate more aircraft and Rs4-5-crore on other facilities such as gradients for easy luggage and passenger movement, car-park, etc.," Sinha said.

These are some measures which the Airport will implement in the short-to-medium-term, he said.

On the tender to be floated for the restaurant, Sinha said it was likely to be floated by end-this month.

"We also plan to float tenders for the car-park and visitors gallery, again by this month-end," he said.

MIPL is a joint venture between the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and the Airports Authority of India, with 51:49 stake holding, respectively.

The airport, spread over 1,460-acres, presently handles 26 flights and around 4,000 passengers per day.

MIPL has also received the final report from Changi Airport, Singapore, on how to make the airport "more passenger-and-airline-friendly," Sinha said.

Changi had been appointed by MIPL as an advisor to suggest measures on improving the functioning of the airport in the short-to-medium-term.

The Singapore firm submitted its draft report in January and the final report early this month, Sinha said, adding "we will implement these soft measures for airport improvement gradually."

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