The Centre wants at least 500 small airports to come up all over the country to facilitate growth of regional airlines, the future of domestic aviation industry, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Sunday.

“The government is promoting regional airlines. That is where the traffic is ... The US has 5,100 operational airports. Why can’t we have at least 500?” Patel said after laying the foundation stone for developing infrastructure for an airport at the Behala Flying Club in south Kolkata.

Patel, however, did not specify by when the government expected to have all the 500 airports in place, but said the number of operational airports in the country have grown to 80 from 50 in 2004 when he became the Civil Aviation Minister.

The civil aviation sector was expected to generate 30 lakh jobs in the next 10 years, he said adding, within the next three to five years, the number of commercial aircraft in the country would go up to 1,000 from 350 now.

“This means that we will need more pilots. There are 1,000 pilots from abroad working in India now. We do not have enough pilots from India. It is good that a flying training institute has been set up here. We need similar institutions elsewhere as well,” he said.

The Centre’s new policy was to encourage operation of small aircraft of upto 80 seats which used less fuel and these were exempted from paying various fees to the Airports Authority of India as incentive, Patel said. Pointing out that the AAI did not get any budgetary support and had to generate its own funds, Patel appealed to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to make land available for expansion of the Behala Airport for operation of bigger aircraft.

Appeal for land
“I am not appealing to the Chief Minister for funds, but I would request him to make land available for the airport and also other infrastructural facilities,” he said.

Bhattacharjee said his government would provide all infrastructure and logistic support for the modernisation of the Behala airport which would function as an auxillary airport to the N S C Bose International Airport at Dum Dum.

Bhattacharjee said with more private players entering commercial aviation, his government had decided to set up aviation training institutes in the state to cater to the growing manpower needs in the sector.

Earlier, Joint Secretary in the Civil Aviation Ministry Arun Mishra said that in the first phase, Rs 10 crore would be spent in erecting boundary walls, lighting facilities and developing the airstrip.