Civil Aviation Ministry gave clearance for four greenfield airports

The Civil Aviation Ministry on 28 December 2015 gave clearance for four greenfield airports. The three airports will be located in Andhra Pradesh and one international airport at Dholera, Gujarat.

The Ministry has also given its green signal for development of a greenfield airport in Nellore and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh under a public-private partnership.

The site clearance, which is the first clearance, was given on 28 December 2015 for the Bhogapuram airport in Andhra Pradesh which is about 40 km from Vizag.

Two of the three airports proposed at Andhra Pradesh are likely to be no-frills one.

The international airport proposed at Dholera in Gujarat will cost around 1378 crore rupees. It is also expected that the airport will reduce air traffic load at the existing Ahmedabad airport, which has no space for expansion of terminal and construction of the second runway. The airport had already received environmental clearance from the Environment Ministry in 2014.

Dholera airport, which will be developed in 3525 acres owned by the state government, is expected to have two runways and the terminal building will have a capacity for 1200 domestic and international passengers.

What is a greenfield airport?

• Greenfield Airport means a new airport which is built from scratch in a new location because the existing airport is unable to meet the projected requirements of traffic.

• The word greenfield originates from software engineering, meaning a project which lacks any constraints imposed by prior work.

The projects which are modified or upgraded from existing facilities are called brownfield projects.

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