Tiruchi airport will soon get a bigger, better terminal
The new integrated terminal building of the Tiruchi
international airport is set for expansion with the Airports Authority
of India (AAI) approving the project.
Post expansion, the passengers’ accommodation capacity at the integrated terminal building would get doubled.
The
expansion work is expected to commence in July. The expansion would
mean better infrastructure in the terminal building, airport sources
here told The Hindu. The arrival side would be expanded by around 100 metres and the departure side by 80 metres.
The
terminal building expansion project is pegged at Rs. 50 crore, the
sources said and added the AAI had given its approval for the project
recently.
The steep rise in the passenger traffic
made the authorities concerned to take up the expansion proposal. A
blueprint was sent to the AAI in New Delhi seeking approval, a top
official said.
The passengers’ accommodation capacity would get doubled from the existing 400 to 800 once the terminal building was expanded.
As
part of the expansion plan, five more aero bridges are proposed at the
international airport which would increase the aero bridges tally to
seven.
Additional aero bridges would substantially
reduce the ground handling time and enhance security surveillance, the
official said.
Two more aircraft bays have been proposed. At present, the airport has seven bays.
Airport sources said the overseas travellers outnumbered the domestic passengers in Tiruchi.
The
number of international flights operated to and from Tiruchi per week
was over 140 to overseas destinations such as Dubai, Singapore, Kuala
Lumpur, and Colombo.
Air India Express, Tiger
Airways, Malindo, and Sri Lankan Airlines are the international carriers
operating flights to and from Tiruchi.
For the
first time, the Tiruchi airport handled one million passengers’
(domestic and international) during the 2013-14 financial year, the
official said.
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