Govt to Lok Sabha: 35 airports in country don't have night landing facility

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju said on Thursday that nearly 35 functional airports in the country don't have any kind of night landing facility. Airlines have to apply to the Airports Authority of India to facilitate night landing facility in a particular airport and then process of offering the convenience starts.     

"There are 47 licenced landing airports in the country while 35 are yet to apply for it," he said during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. The Minister said improving the infrastructure, including night landing facility at the airports, was a continuous process and is undertaken by the Airports Authority of India depending upon factors like commercial viability, traffic demand, operational requirements, demand from airlines and technical feasibility.     

Endorsing BJP member Abhishek Singh's statement that "airports are not for cattle grazing but for the use by the aircraft", Raju said the central government was promoting the aviation sector and it has now become fastest growing aviation market in the world.