Telangana: Commissioning of New Airports At Warangal, Adilabad And Jakranpally To Take Time

The development of new airports at three locations — Warangal, Adilabad and Jakranpally in the state of Telangana, is likely to take some more time.

While airports at Adilabad and Warangal will be developed at brownfield sites (existing), the airport at Nizamabad will be a greenfield project.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on 2 January, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said the state government had proposed to take up development of three greenfield airports at Jakaranpally (Nizamabad district), Palvancha (Bhadadri Kothagudem district), Devarakadra (Mahabubnagar district) and three brownfield airports at Mamnoor (Warangal district), Basanth Nagar (Peddapally district) and Adilabad district.

Accordingly, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had conducted Techno-Economic Feasibility Study (TEFS), Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS) survey, soil testing and other tests for all the six sites and submitted the report to the state government in June 2021.

As per the study, only three locations — Warangal, Adilabad and Jakranpally were found to be technically feasible.

The AAI subsequently requested the state government to develop and commission the feasible sites of the three airports for private operations of small aircraft, to avoid immediate requirement of land acquisition.

Further, the AAI has also advised Telangana government to carry out fresh OLS survey (for identification of actual physical obstacles as on date) before taking up of actual development of these three airports.

As per the original Master plan, these airports will be developed in phases with Phase-1 suitable for ATR-72 aircraft, and Phase-2 for AB-320 aircraft.

The construction work on these sites would begin once AAI and the Ministry of Civil Aviation give all necessary clearances. The actual timeline for completion of development of these airports shall depend on land acquisition, availability of mandatory clearances, financial closure by the state government of Telangana.

Currently, the international airport at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad is Telangana's primary civil aviation facility. Demand for airports at Adilabad and Nizamabad has arisen due to their long distance from the state capital.

The Mamnoor airport with more than one terminal, was the largest such facility during the pre-independence era. At present, the airport has become defunct. However, Warangal has been on the list of proposed airstrips under UDAN, a regional airport connectivity programme.

The state government has recognised Mamnoor as a potential airport because of its proximity to tourist destination and has allocated 950 acres of land to the AAI for the purpose.

Adilabad Airport

The existing aerodrome at Adilabad is under the control of Indian Air Force (IAF). The Chief Minister announced that an airstrip would be set up in Adilabad in 2018 to fulfil the long-pending dream of Adilabad district.

In Adilabad, 122 acres in the first phase and 175 acres in the second phase will be required for the airport's construction and removal of roadblocks.

Jakranpally Airport

The idea to build the airport at Jakranpally had first been mooted 12 years ago under the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government. The new airport at Jakranpally, would be useful for the poor migrant workers from North Telangana districts and also Maharashtra.

Located 25 km east of the district headquarters, the site is well connected with all parts of North Telangana.

According to unofficial sources, about five lakh people from the old integrated districts of Adilabad, Karimnagar and Nizamabad are working in the Gulf.