TIRUCHI: The proposed construction of a new integrated international passenger terminal building at the Tiruchi airport is expected to commence in the coming months with a separate project division office having been created for this purpose.
The detailed plan for the construction of the new terminal building along with associated facilities would be chalked out by a project management consultancy firm to be selected by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The AAI would finalise the project management consultancy firm through a global tender that has already been floated.
Once finalised, the project management consultancy firm would inspect the site within the sprawling airport premises where the new integrated international passenger terminal building is to come up.
The project management consultancy firm would prepare the design, estimate, the time taken for execution, proposed cost and a host of other aspects in its project plan.
Upon completion of the detailed estimate and the project plan, the consultancy firm would submit it to the AAI corporate headquarters which would thereafter float tender for execution of the project.
The new terminal building would come up adjacent to the existing building on an area exceeding 60,700 square metres at a cost of around ₹750 crore, K. Gunasekaran, Airport Director, Tiruchi said.
The physical works are expected to commence sometime in July –August, Mr. Gunasekaran said. Land would not be an issue as the new building along with associated facilities would come up within the airport premises.
The new terminal building would have multi-level car parking to accommodate 750 cars with the facility of city-side ramp.
The passenger capacity in the proposed new building would be 3,370 with bays for parking of 10 aircrafts. The construction of a new Air Traffic Control tower with technical block also forms part of the same plan.
The new building with arrival and departure sides has been proposed at a time when overseas and domestic passenger movements at the Tiruchi airport have seen a steady rise due to increase in services to different foreign destinations.
The fast growing Tiruchi airport witnesses bunching of overseas flights especially from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. when passenger movements peak. The number of flights per day at Tiruchi airport is over 20.
Barring the Jet Airways flight which operates in the domestic sector from Chennai to Tiruchi and back, the remaining five are international carriers.
Airport authorities expect that the total number of passengers – overseas and domestic – handled at the airport would exceed ₹14 lakh in the 2016-17 financial year.
