The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is thinking of a modified plan for the expansion of the new integrated terminal building of the Tiruchi international airport.
The new terminal building expansion plan would be “futuristic” in the wake of the current upswing in overall passenger traffic especially international travellers at the airport.
The proposed modified plan would take into account passenger traffic in the next 10 years at the Tiruchi airport and formulated accordingly keeping the current growth trend as the base.
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The proposed move to devise a modified plan emerged following the visit of AAI Chairman R.K. Srivastava to the Tiruchi international airport in mid-August. The AAI Chairman inspected the new integrated terminal building and ascertained the infrastructure facilities and passenger data.
He was given a briefing on the existing plan drawn out for the expansion of the terminal building. Under the existing plan, the arrival and departure sides of the new terminal building was to be expanded by 100 metres and 80 metres respectively to double the passenger accommodation capacity by 800 with the estimated cost pegged at Rs. 200 crore.
Consequent to the visit of the AAI chairman, the organisation was now thinking of coming out with a modified futuristic plan taking into account passenger traffic in the next 10 years.
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The Tiruchi international airport from where five foreign carriers operate flights to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, and Colombo every day has exceeded the one million mark with respect to passenger traffic.
As the one million mark has been achieved, the AAI has now planned to work out a modified plan keeping in mind the current upswing in passenger traffic and the projected traffic in 2025-26, airport sources told The Hindu .
The AAI corporate headquarters would work out the revised plan, a senior official said and added that the finer aspects of the new scheme was expected to be rolled out in due course.
Airport sources were of the firm view that expansion of the new integrated terminal building would take at least three or four years from now.
The steady increase in the number of overseas flight services over the years and the rise in passengers’ movements necessitated the AAI to expand the new terminal building to augment space to cope with the traffic upswing.
The airport is witness to bunching of overseas flights to different foreign destinations in the morning and night with hectic passengers’ movements during that time daily. The Tiruchi airport handled over 11 lakh passengers – a majority of whom were overseas travellers during the 2014-15 financial year. The AAI expects the passenger traffic to touch 12 lakh this fiscal given the robust growth at present.
The arrival and departure side of the new terminal to be expanded
It will double the passenger capacity to 800