New Delhi, Jan. 25: The Sahara group is eyeing business in the airport sector, besides concentrating on construction, real estate and para-banking ? the areas fuelling the group’s growth.

“We would like to get into it (airports),” Air Sahara vice-president Alok Sharma said. Though Sharma refused to spell out the details, sources said Sahara wanted to set up greenfield airports located strategically near metropolitan cities. The group saw its entry into the airport business as an extension of its new-found strength in real estate and construction.

Several key business groups, including Reliance, are eyeing the airport sector as air traffic in the country has been growing at 22 per cent and only a handful of metro airports cater to some 60 million travellers everywhere.

“Parking slots are a mess ... airlines have to find night parking in non-metro airports after flying between metros. Aircraft wait for 45 minutes to one hour in the sky for permission to touch down at Delhi and Mumbai airports,” Sharma told The Telegraph.

Last week, Sahara had announced its exit from the airline business by selling off Air Sahara, which holds a 14 per cent market share, to Jet Airways for an all-cash deal worth about $500 million.

Sources said Sahara, which was based out of Lucknow, could hope to pitch in for a greenfield airport at Greater Noida or elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh to service the capital city.