The government is looking at reviving some of the 400 abandoned airstrips built in the pre-Independence era as part of its attempt to create low-cost airports to boost regional connectivity. Work in this direction has already started in Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh.

“It is too early to say what will be the shape and form of these airstrips but there is a lot happening in the regional connectivity space,” civil aviation ministry officials said. This includes the new aviation policy, which is expected to do away with the 5/20 rule and bring in the new domestic flying credit rule, which will boost regional connectivity. The revival of these airstrips will help in increasing regional connectivity.

Under the proposed policy, airlines flying to tier-III towns and cities will get more flying credits — three times of what is obtained from flying to tier-I cities.

If the abandoned airstrips are revived, it might boost tourism, something which the Narendra Modi government is focused on, said industry experts. Bihar has the maximum number of such airstrips at 22, followed by Rajasthan, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and others.

The last time there was talk of reviving these air-strips, it was 2007, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was mulling the idea, but nothing has happened since then. The plan was to encourage investments in about 150 of these airstrips.

The government is also planning to waive landing and parking charges at as many as 30-odd airports that have not seen traffic in the last one year. The move is expected to have a positive impact and incentivise private and state-owned airlines to fly to these destinations.

The government has also started developing no-frills airports in Jharsuguda in Odisha, Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh, Hubli and Belgaum in Karnataka, and Kishangarh in Rajasthan. Also, a commercial sustainability study is being carried out for the remaining airports, first identified by the previous government.

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