Tiruchi Airport to have modern terminal: AAI

Tiruchirapalli, July 7 (UNI) The Tiruchirapalli International Airport will have a state-of-the-art Integrated Terminal Building by September 2007, Airport Authority of India (AAI) Southern Regional Executive Director K Ramalingam said.

Addressing a press conference here last night after reviewing the ongoing airport expansion work, Dr Ramalingam said preliminary work on the site had begun and the building was planned anticipating 20 to 25 per cent increase in passenger traffic in the coming years.

The building will accomodate 500 passengers and the entire terminal made of steel and glass structures-the first-of-its kind in Tamil Nadu.

The project was expected to cost Rs 75 crore and Rs 42 crore works had already been awarded to contractors.

Explaining the salient features of the building, he said it would have the facility to accomodate seven aircraft, as against three now.

An apron expansion project would also be executed along with the Terminal Building construction at a cost of Rs 16.63 crore. Once the expansion work is completed, bigger aircrafts like Airbus 321 and Boeing 737 could be easily housed.

The airport is also in the process of obtaining ISO certfication, he said.

Asked whether there was any proposal to construct similar buildings at Madurai and Coimbatore Airports, Dr Ramalingam said they were at the planning stage.

The runway expansion work at the airport here had been completed and the expanded runway would become operational after calibration of the relocated instrument landing system.

The runway will become fully operational within the next two months after obtaining clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

A modern Category VI fire station had also been established in the airport as part of the modernisation programe, he added.

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