COIMBATORE: The city airport expansion project is likely to take off soon. On Wednesday, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) not only floated a tender to construct a precast boundary wall for the newly acquired land for the project, but also released a tentative master plan for the airport expansion.
As per the tender, the estimated cost for the precast boundary wall is Rs29 crore and the work completion period is 456 days. The wall would cover a distance of 16.7 kilometres.
The plan is to carry out the expansion work, which includes construction of a new passenger terminal, cargo terminal and an air traffic control-cum-technical building, in two phases. The project will not only increase the length of runway to 3,810 meters from 2,990 meters, but also increase the departure count manifold.
While the present passenger terminal has only four aerobridges, the new one will have 20 of them. It will also be equipped with 10 Multiple Apron Ramp Systems.
The expansion master plan has also listed additional facilities like a dedicated bus stand, multilevel car parking lot, a new approach road, two midscale hotels and an upscale hotel.
According to aviation analyst Shyam Mohan Prabhu, the airport expansion project would boost both the passenger traffic and flight operations. “Imagine that the new terminal gets commissioned by 2030. Then, the passenger traffic will touch nearly 15 million per annum from the current 3.63 million. There will also be an increase in the number of flights being operated from the airport daily to 60 from the current 33.”
G Sambath Kumar, city airport director, said the current master plan provides only a representative image as far as the boundary wall is concerned. ” For instance, a few drainage lines are passing through the area and based on the same structural limitations must be considered. The master plan is being reworked and updated based on the current regulations. Subtle changes to the layout will occur, but the runway, terminal and aprons will remain the same.”
