State govt failed to hand over additional 32.97 acre for runway safety basic strip, says Union ministry

Mangaluru: The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said on Saturday that the Karnataka government has not agreed to hand over 32.97 acres of additional land required for the runway safety basic strip and runway end safety area at Mangaluru International Airport (MIA).

In a written reply to an unstarred question by DK MP Captain Brijesh Chowta in Lok Sabha,  Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Friday said that Airports Authority of India (AAI) had leased out MIA to Mangaluru International Airport Limited (MaIAL) for better  management and development under Public Private Partnership (PPP).

MaIAL had projected an additional land requirement of 32.97 acres for the Runway Safety Basic Strip and Runway End Safety Area. "When the Government of Karnataka did not respond to MoCA's appeal on handing over the land to AAI, free of cost, AAI was asked to address the matter in accordance with Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) guidelines so as to ensure that operational safety and efficiency of the airport is maintained while mitigating any potential adverse impact on user tariffs,” said the Minister.

Point of Call status

To another query by the MP on granting Point of Call (PoC) status to MIA to enable international airlines to operate to and from Mangaluru and enhance connectivity, the Minister said; “At present, Government of India promotes more international operations by Indian carriers from non-metro points either directly or through their domestic operations. Accordingly, new non-metro points including Mangaluru are not being granted as PoC in the Air Service Agreement to any foreign country.”

The Minister added that international operations of airlines are governed by bilateral Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and the respective country.

In accordance with ASA, Indian designated carriers are free to mount operations to/from any point in India including Mangaluru to foreign destinations as per mutually agreed capacity limits, while any designated foreign airline can operate to/from a point in India if it is designated as a Point of Call (PoC) in the ASA.