Policy Position: Every Metro Should Have One Dedicated Low-Cost Airport

India’s metros do not suffer from a lack of airports; they suffer from a lack of choice. When premium, capital-intensive hub airports are expected to simultaneously serve luxury long-haul travel and price-sensitive mass mobility, the result is predictable—higher charges, rising airfares, congestion, and a gradual erosion of affordability. If India is serious about making air travel accessible rather than aspirational, every metropolitan region must have one dedicated low-cost airport, designed, regulated, and priced for efficiency rather than grandeur. This is not an infrastructure indulgence; it is a structural necessity for a country where the majority of flyers are first-time, fare-sensitive passengers.

1. Why a Dedicated Low-Cost Airport per Metro Makes Sense

a) Cost Segregation Is Fundamental

Aviation costs are largely structural, not incidental. When low-cost carriers (LCCs) operate from the same terminals as full-service carriers at premium hubs, they are forced to absorb:

• High User Development Fees (UDF)
• Premium terminal operating costs
• Congestion-driven inefficiencies
• Slot scarcity premiums

A separate low-cost airport allows:

• Bare-bones terminals
• Faster turnarounds
• Lower aeronautical charges
• Predictable cost bases for airlines

This model works globally.

Examples (success cases):

• London → Stansted / Luton alongside Heathrow
• Paris → Beauvais alongside CDG
• Tokyo → Narita / Haneda segregation
• Kuala Lumpur → KLIA2 for LCCs

These are not accidental outcomes; they are deliberate infrastructure economics decisions.

2. Why Indian Metros Are Currently Structurally Misaligned

India’s metro airports (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad) follow a single-hub, premium-first model, characterised by:

• Large capex recovery pressures
• Non-aeronautical revenue dependency
• Uniform fee structures irrespective of airline business model

This creates a contradiction:

India wants low fares, but builds airports priced for premium passengers.

A low-cost airline cannot remain structurally low-cost if it operates from high-cost monopolistic hubs.

3. What “One Low-Cost Airport per Metro” Should Actually Mean

This is critical. A low-cost airport is not merely a smaller airport.

It must have policy-mandated characteristics:

A. Regulatory Design

• Zero or near-zero UDF
• Minimal PSF
• Transparent, capped aeronautical charges
• Separate AERA tariff philosophy (cost-based, not ROI-maximising)

B. Infrastructure Philosophy

• Single terminal, modular design
• Walk-boarding or basic aero-bridges
• No luxury retail dependency
• Standardised ground handling

C. Operational Priorities

• Guaranteed fast turnarounds
• Slot availability prioritised for LCCs
• No cross-subsidisation of premium terminals

D. Connectivity Integration

• Direct metro/rail/bus links
• Time-based accessibility targets (e.g. <60–75 minutes from CBD)

4. Why “Dual-Airport” Models Are Essential for Large Cities

Large metros naturally generate two distinct demand profiles:

1. Time-sensitive, premium, long-haul, business travel
2. Price-sensitive, short-haul, leisure, regional travel

Trying to serve both from one airport results in:

• Congestion
• High costs
• Political capture of tariff regulation
• Airline-airport conflict

A dual-airport strategy is therefore not duplication — it is demand segmentation.

5. Risks and Caveats (Important)

I would add three cautions:

a) Avoid “Low-Cost in Name Only”

If a low-cost airport:

• Is controlled by the same concessionaire
• Has the same tariff logic
• Exists mainly as overflow capacity

Then the policy fails.

b) Prevent Monopoly Extension

The low-cost airport must not become a shadow monopoly of the primary hub operator.

c) Safety and Oversight Must Be Identical

Low-cost must never mean:

• Lower safety oversight
• Reduced regulatory compliance
• Weaker emergency infrastructure

Cost efficiency ≠ safety dilution.

6. Strategic Recommendation for India

A rational national policy would be:

Every metro with annual traffic >25 million passengers must have:

• One primary hub airport
• One designated low-cost airport with a legally protected low-cost mandate

This should be embedded in:

• National Civil Aviation Policy
• AERA tariff frameworks
• Future PPP concession templates

7. Bottom Line

Yes — every metro should have one low-cost airport.

Not as an experiment, not as a political announcement, but as a structural correction to India’s aviation cost architecture.

Without this:

• Fares will keep rising
• Airlines will keep blaming airports
• Airports will keep blaming regulation
• Passengers will keep paying for inefficiency