Airport Authority of India - AAI

The Airport Authority of India, or AAI, creates, manages, and maintains civil aviation infrastructure in India. On 1st April 1995, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, amalgamated the National Airports Authority and the International Airports Authority of India to establish the Airport Authority of India.

AAI manages 81 domestic airports, 34 international airports, 10 Customs Airports, and 23 Civil enclaves at defense airfields in India. Learn more about this powerful organization, its history, and its functions in detail here.

What is AAI?

AAI stands for the Airports Authority of India. It is the Ministry of Civil Aviation's Statutory Body that was founded on 1st April 1995 by joining the National Airports Authority and the International Airports Authority of India. The integration resulted in the establishment of a single organization - AAI - entrusted with developing, enhancing, operating, and administering the country's civil aviation infrastructure on the ground and in the country's airspace.

Here, we have shared a brief overview of the Airport Authority of India:

Airport Authority of India - Structure

When we talk about the organizational structure of the AAI, it consists of the board members, Chairman, Director General, and part-time members. The central government of India appoints the members and Chairman of the Airport Authority of India. Moreover, the organization is divided into five administrative units. Each unit is headed by a Regional Executive Director.

Here are the five administrative units of the AAI:

1. Northern Regional Headquarters at Delhi, NCR
2. Southern Regional Headquarters at Chennai, Tamil Nadu
3. Eastern Regional Headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal
4. Western Regional Headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra
5. North-Eastern Regional Headquarters at Guwahati, Assam.

AAI History

The history of the Airports Authority of India can be traced back to 1st April 1995 when the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, founded the AAI. The preceding organization before AAI was the Civil Aviation Department, Government of India. Here is the detailed history of the organization:

• In 1972, the International Airports Authority of India (IAAI) was established by the Government of India to manage all the international airports in the country.
• In 1986, the government founded the National Airports Authority of India (NAAI) to control domestic airports in India.
• In April 1995, an Act of Parliament, the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994, was passed.
• The Act was passed after the previous two organizations, IAAI and NAAI, were merged together to form a single Statutory Body.

Significance of the Airport Authority of India

The AAI is responsible for managing the airport infrastructure in the country. Without this organization, the civil aviation infrastructure of the country will not be managed efficiently. Therefore, the Airports Authority of India is considered a significant organization. This key institution of the government is responsible for the following:

• Creating new civil aviation infrastructure in the country.
• Managing and upgrading the civil aviation infrastructure in the country.
• Providing CNS/ATM (Communication Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management) services in the Indian airspace.

Airports Authority of India - Key Functions

The AAI is a statutory body headquartered in New Delhi that is responsible for the following essential functions:

• The AAI's core objective is to provide efficient and safe Air Traffic Management (ATM) and aeronautical communication services to effectively control air traffic throughout the Indian Territory airspace and adjacent marine areas.
• It is responsible for developing, supervising, maintaining, and upgrading the civil aviation infrastructure of the country.
• The AAI controls international airports, domestic airports, customs airports, and civil enclaves on defence airfields.
• It also offers CNS (Communication Navigation Surveillance).

Top Accomplishments of AAI

The Airports Authority of India Act 1994 formed the Airports Authority of India under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 1995. Therefore, the crucial thing to note about AAI is that it's a statutory body. AAI provides air navigation services across a region of 2.8 million square nautical miles. Here are some of the top accomplishments of the Airports Authority of India:

ADSS (Automatic Dependent Surveillance System)

India became the first country in South-East Asia to adopt ADSS at its air traffic control centres in Chennai and Kolkata. It enabled the utilization of satellite communication to control aviation traffic over oceanic regions.

The GAGAN Project

AAI is developing GAGAN in conjunction with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Under this project, navigation signals received from the Global Positioning System (GPS) would be augmented to obtain the aircraft's navigational requirements.

Performance-Based Navigation

The AAI has implemented Performance-Based Navigation arrival and departure procedures at airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Ahmedabad to prevent the requirement for numerous aviation safety and operational clearances for intra- and inter-regional operations.

FAQs on Airports Authority of India

Q1. What is the Airport Authority of India?

The Airport Authority of India or AAI is a Statutory Body of the Government of India responsible for managing and creating the civil aviation infrastructure of the country. The AAI was established on 1st April 1995.

Q2. Who is the chairman of AAI?

Shri Sanjeev Kumar, a former IAS officer, is currently serving as the chairman of the Airports Authority of India. He assumed the charge on 7th April 2021.

Q3. How many airports are currently managed by the Airports Authority of India?

The Airports Authority of India oversees the operations of 137 airports. There are up to 23 International Airports, 81 Domestic Airports, 23 Domestic Civil Enclaves, and 10 Customs Airports under the administration of AAI.

Q4. Which ministry is AAI a part of?

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a statutory body that reports to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which comes under the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the Government of India.

Q5. How many members constitute the board of AAI?

The AAI board comprises a full-time chairperson; the DGCA, who serves as an ex-officio member, five full-time members for operations, finance, human resources, planning, and air navigation services the JS and the ASFA at the Ministry of Civil Aviation and three non-official part-time members.