'Considerable time:' Private airport operators flag BCAS clearance delays with Govt

The Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) has warned the Indian government that delays in security vetting approvals from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) are impacting project implementation, operational efficiencies, and passenger convenience.

APAO provided a list of projects where BCAS clearance took from a week to 802 days, including 802 days for a central kitchen at Bengaluru T2 and 664 days for a casualty centre at Mumbai T1.

APAO requested the aviation ministry to establish turnaround timelines for different proposal categories to speed up processing.

A former BCAS official noted that both operators and BCAS contribute to delays, with larger proposals requiring thorough security review and often slow responses from operators, while smaller approvals could be expedited.