The transport sector is seen as the lifeline of an economy (Koçak, 2011). To a large extent, the growth and development of an economy is dependent on the growth of the transport sector. The transport sector consists of road, railways, ports and airports. The airport sector is considered as one of the essential elements of the transport sector, as growth of the airport sector is crucial for the overall growth of the transport sector and the Indian economy. Modern and full-facility airports can help India to move forward as one of the most powerful economies of the world (Kumar et al., 2017a; Kumar et al., 2017b). Airports and airlines have historically been considered as vital components of the national aviation system, and therefore both are regarded as public utilities. An earlier traditional airport management model was more prevalent but governments realized that it is an unsustainable model in the long run because of inefficiency and the burden of financing airports. Since the 1980s, airports have been privatized in an effort to become more efficient and to allow governments to use funding in other ways. Currently, the government regards airports as potential profit-making enterprises instead of just considering them as suppliers of infrastructure.
Airport Infrastructure in India
Earlier Indian airports were administered by the Civil Aviation Department, Government of India, till the creation of the International Airports Authority of India (IAAI) in 1972 and subsequently the National Airports Authority (NAA) in 1986. Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted by an Act of Parliament on 1st April 1995. It came into being by merging the erstwhile National Airports Authority and the International Airports Authority of India. Through the merger, a distinct organization evolved being responsible for creating, improving, maintaining and supervising civil aviation infrastructure (Airport Authority of India). AAI manages 125 airports, which include 11 International Airports, 8 Customs Airports, 81 Domestic Airports and 27 Civil Enclaves at Defence airfields. The report quoted from AAI (Airport Authority of India) on traffic trends at all airports of AAI shows that in the years 2002-2003, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 passenger traffic increased by 9.35%, 11.56% and 21.5% respectively. Similarly, there was also rapid growth in freight and aircraft traffic. Cargo traffic grew by 14.64%, 9.1% and 19.8% while aircraft movement increased by 9.9%, 14.4% and 11.88% respectively.
According to the report of the Investment Commission (Investment Strategy for India, 2006), the encouraging statistics on the trend of human population and rapid growth in the economy points to a continued expansion in domestic passenger traffic and international outward traffic. The rise in traffic and cargo movement leads to over-crowding situations at different airports in India. This is apparent in Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. That's why the country requires modernization of metro airports, development of new airports, generation of technology for efficient treatment of passengers, cargo and better practices in management.