KOCHI: The state’s premier engineering, management and project consultancy firm, KITCO, is making its presence big in the aviation sector by undertaking the techno-economic feasibility study of the Faizabad, Meerut and Moradabad airports to be developed. KITCO, which is known for cost-effective design of airport infrastructure, is also an empanelled consultant at Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), which determines the tariffs for aeronautical services at major airports in India.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has also decided to make KITCO’s cost-effective design as the benchmark for new development works. “All the three airports are in UP and these are being developed in phases and with an aim to facilitate landing of smaller aircraft initially. The centre wants to develop smaller airport across the country to increase connectivity and there is no insistence on generating profit in the first phase,” said KITCO MD Cyriac Davies.
He said that KITCO had planned to go for the PPP mode in the second phase expansion of these airports and make them profitable enabling landing of wider-bodied aircraft. “KITCO has the experience of planning the Cochin international airport two decades back when nobody thought of the PPP model and is involved in the planning of Kannur airport also which helps us in planning for other airports,” said Mr Cyriac Davies.
Meerut, a sports goods manufacturing and an education hub, is closer to Delhi while Ayodhya which is included in the Ramayana circuit is the attraction for Faizabad airport. Annually 1.5 crore people visit Ayodhya. Faizabad also has houses of a large number of NRIs while Moradabad is a hub for brass wire manufacturing with good export potential. KITCO is the implementing agency of Air India’s hanger project in Nagpur. “The project, which is coming up in the industrial park exclusively for projects in the aviation sector, is highly skill-oriented. KITCO has bagged the project in a competitive bidding,” said Mr Cyriac Davies.
