Efforts on to Improve Infrastructure at India's Airports.

Efforts on to improve infrastructure facilties at airports

Kochi, Feb 18 (PTI) Efforts were on to improve infrastructural facilities at airports in India, which have seen a 40 per cent growth inthe domestic passenger segment during certain months, a top officialof Air India said today.

The development of Mumbai and Delhi airports has begun. Work on the new greenfield airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad has already taken off and is expected to be completed within one or two years, Air India Chairman and Managing Director V Thulasidas told a press meet here.

He said 35 airports are being developed by the Airports Authority of India and a new airport is coming up at new Mumbai.

On shortage of pilots, he said AI does not have a shortage at present. But it would need more pilots when it will induct a large numberof aircraft.

It has also been decided to recruit engineering graduates and train them abroad before recuriting them as pilots. The selection and recruitment of first batch of about 800 graduates was over. For the nextseven years, AI would be needing 700 to 1,000 pilots, he said.

A Parliamentary consultative committee, chaired by Union minister Praful Patel would be meeting here tomorrow to discuss various issuesrelated to the civil aviation sector, Thulasidas, who was elected president of the Aeronautical society of India, at its AGM here, said.

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