UNTAPPED SKIES OF INDIA

Beyond the bustling metros, India's hidden private airfields and surging charter demand could rewrite the future of aviation — if policy, infrastructure, and innovation take flight together, highlights RASHEED KAPPAN

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Beyond the flashy green-field commercial airports riding the big aviation boom across the country, a good number of private airfields could spur general aviation growth with the right policy boost. Currently limited to aircraft ferrying corporate executives and serving multiple industrial facilities, can these airfields be transformed to re-jig a sector that holds promise?

At least 16 private airports are licensed to operate by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Among these are the Taneja Aerospace & Aviation Limited (TAAL) in Tamil Nadu, airfields in Vidyanagar and Koppal in Karnataka, Bokaro in Jharkhand, Rourkela and Angul in Odisha, Raigarh (JSPL) and Baikunth in Chhattisgarh, Birlagram in Nagda, Madhya Pradesh and Mithapur in Gujarat.

While these are under the DGCA radar, many are outside public documentation. The country's aviation infrastructure harbours an estimated 500 airfields of varying lengths and associated infrastructure. Aviation experts say many of the underutilised airfields could be leveraged for general aviation use with the right intervention by the regulators and administrative setups.

Dedicated infrastructure