Can’t have more flights, terminal has little space

Nagpur: The Nagpur airport handled around 30 lakh passengers in the financial year ending March 2026 as against 29 lakh in the preceding fiscal. Despite a growth of 1 lakh passengers, the passenger traffic remained 15% below the peak capacity of 35 lakh in one fiscal.Passenger traffic can grow if new flights are added, for which the terminal building must be expanded. The expansion remains a million-dollar question. The limited capacity has been a constraint in adding new flights, said sources.The Nagpur airport was supposed to be taken over by GMR Group one-and-a-half years ago after it won the bids. A court ruling also paved the way for the takeover by the company. Once it takes charge of the airport, GMR would also take up brownfield expansion, like constructing a new terminal building. A Cabinet approval for GMR to formally acquire the airport management remains awaited for over a year. The company cannot start operation till then. Lack of clarity mars decision on even minor expansion, said sources.The airport is at present managed by Mihan India Limited (MIL), a joint venture between state govt's Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and Airports Authority of India (AAI).The capacity to handle 35 lakh passengers a year translates to 4-5 flights in an hour. To add more flights, the terminal building needs to be expanded. MIL had earlier planned minor expansion that would have increased the capacity by around 5 lakh, or 5-6 flights per hour. The plan was to expand the existing terminal building sideways. With the limited space available at the current location, a major expansion cannot happen, a source said. GMR was supposed to build an entirely new terminal further ahead off Wardha Road. Meanwhile, given the uncertainty, MIL remains undecided over the planned expansion, the source said.