Fraport AG wants hi-tech rail link for Delhi airport
APRIL 18: Fraport AG, the foreign partner in the GMR-led consortium, plans to moot a proposal for a regional rail connectivity and a high speed rail station or metro in its ‘detailed master plan’ for the modernisation of Delhi airport, Fraport AG senior manager Ansgar Sickert told FE.
Mr Sickert along with a team of five senior managers from Fraport, will be responsible for operations of the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the joint venture company floated for Delhi airport.
According to Mr Sickert, the railway support system will help relieve congestion at the airport and at the same time increase its catchment area, particularly since Delhi has a high population density.
While the GMR-Fraport-led consortium signed the operations management development agreement with Airports Authority of India (AAI) early this month, physical transfer of Delhi airport has not happened as yet. In fact, the detailed master plan has also not been approved and finalised by the government so far.
Concerned at the delay in the entire process, Mr Sickert, however, said he expects handing over of the airport by mid-May. Meanwhile, it plans to start making small but operational changes at the airport from May 1. “The operations team will right away look at issues like removing bottlenecks and introduce changes to improve the existing facilities,” he said.
According to Mr Sickert, Delhi airport has high scope of making it as an Asian hub because of its central geographical location. “The privileged global geographical position of Delhi airport is a great asset and can be exploited,” he said while presenting a paper on trends in airport development at a seminar here.
The total cost of the project, according to Mr Sickert, could be around $1 billion though it was not clear as to whether the government or the consortium would develop other projects like road access, cargo and others. Fraport, currently holding10% stake in the GMR-led consortium, which comprises the GMR Group, Eraman Malaysia and IDF, does not rule out the possibility of increasing its stake in the new company.