The Defence land issue at the Chennai airport has been resolved and within a week official communication in this regard will be sent to the Defence authorities in Chennai, said V.P. Agrawal, Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI), here on Thursday.
Mr. Agrawal, who arrived here on Wednesday night, inspected the progress of works at the airport on Thursday said the AAI had taken the issue to the notice of Cabinet Secretariat, who, in turn, issued orders to immediately vacate the building occupied by the Defence authorities at the airport.
About the feasibility study for a second airport at Sriperumbudur, taken up by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, he said it would be completed by the end of this month. Then, it would be submitted to the Civil Aviation Ministry. The report would also indicate whether it would be viable to have a parallel runway at the existing airport.
When asked whether any objection was raised for creating a second airport at Sriperumbudur, which would be close to the Naval Air base at Arakkonam, and because of the proximity to Bangalore International airport, Mr. Agrawal said already about three places were identified for the second airport. But, the AAI finally zeroed in on Sriperumbudur. From the Air Traffic Control point of view there were no issues.
The State government had to address the issue of connectivity to the second airport for which the AAI would hold discussions with it at a later stage, he said.
Talking about automation of Air Traffic Control Tower in Chennai, Mr. Agrawal said equipment for that had already come. Installation would begin soon and by March next year it would be ready for commissioning as Controllers needed training on the new system.
Tenders
Tenders for primary radars for the Chennai airport would be opened this month.
