Rising civilian traffic strains IAF airfields as AAI expansion lags

The Airports Authority of India’s failure to expand facilities at Indian Air Force (IAF) airfields which have been opened up for civilian operations is hampering the growing volume of civilian traffic, a senior Defence Ministry official said on Friday (August 22, 2025).

This could also potentially impact regular IAF activities, as the service is providing significant technical support for the civilian operations, the official added.

To promote regional air connectivity under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, the Ministries of Civil Aviation and Defence had agreed that the IAF would provide facilities such as runways, air traffic control, and fire-fighting systems, while the AAI would operate the civilian terminals.

Bay shortage worsens delays

The senior official said that 39 IAF airfields — including Hindon (Ghaziabad), Jodhpur, Kanpur, Leh, Pune, and Srinagar — have been opened for UDAN flights.

“We have been repeatedly asking AAI to develop their own facilities for commercial operations. IAF bases cannot accommodate large numbers of civilian flights as they are not meant for it. Initially, limited parking was provided on the condition that AAI would develop its own, but that hasn’t happened. With rising traffic, the shortage of bays is causing delays and turnaround issues,” the official said.

At Hindon airport, for instance, the terminal has a daily capacity of 300 passengers, but handles over 400 passengers each day. The airport operator has two parking bays for ATR aircraft and two for narrow body jets, but the AAI is requesting access to two more parking bays, though it has not developed any parking bays since its civilian operations began in 2019.

Rising demands

While flights were originally meant to operate only from dawn to dusk, operators are now seeking extended hours including during the weekend, further straining facilities and requiring additional manpower to operate the facilities, the official added.

A senior AAI official admitted that Hindon currently has just two dedicated bays for civilian aircraft. “Operations are planned accordingly, but any delay in take-off means incoming flights either get diverted or suspended. An expansion plan for the terminal is being considered at the highest levels and will take some time,” the official said.