Mumbai airport second-most efficient after Heathrow:Jayant Sinha

The Mumbai International airport is widely considered to be the second-most efficient airport in the world with as many landings and take-offs as Heathrow in the UK, government said in Rajya Sabha today.

"Our airports are second to none in terms of their efficiency in operations. I would like to inform the member that the second-most efficient airport in the world is widely considered to be Mumbai airport which has as many landings and take-offs which the UK airport has. Our airports are performing very efficiently," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said during Question Hour.

He also informed the House that the entire land acquisition for expansion of Tuticorin airport in Tamil Nadu is likely to be completed by September after which narrow body jets would be able to land there.

Replying to supplementaries on the expansion of Tuticorin airport, the Minister said the request for expansion of the airport was for first made in 2004 which is being diligently pursued by the Ministry.

"We had made a request to the state government many years ago to provide us additional land so that we can expand the runway and land jets there. That request has been pending. We had asked for 586 acres to the state government.

"We have recently been informed by the state government that by September 2017 the entire land acquisition for Tuticorin would be done and then we would be able to land narrow body jets," he said.

Sinha said the standard procedure by which land is taken over was under the Airports Authority Act and then the necessary investments are made.

The Minister also informed the members that "we have expansion plans for all our airports in the country.