Thoothukudi: Thoothukudi airport is to get a bigger new terminal building so as to handle 600 passengers at a time in the next three years, said airport director, N Subramanian.
“Being a smaller airport in the south beyond Madurai in Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi airport now has a 1,350 metre-long, 30-metre-wide runway able to handle only smaller aircraft like Q400 and ATR-72. The existing 1000 square metre terminal at the airport is totally inadequate to accommodate passengers using the airport now. Hence, the expansion project,” said Subramanian.
Addressing the airport advisory council members here on Monday, Subramanian said that the civil aviation ministry had approved the expansion project, according to which the runway is 3,115 metre long and 45 metre wide, so as to facilitate landing of wide-bodied bigger aircraft. The project is to be carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore.
Further, to enhance the passenger handling capacity to 600 at a time, the airport has been approved to construct a new terminal at a cost of Rs 180 crore in the 601 acres of land handed over to the Airport Authority of India by the Thoothukudi district administration a few months back.
“Tender for these works will be called for within the next month and construction work will commence in the next six months,” said Subramanian, adding that he was hopeful of commissioning the new runway and the terminal before 2022.
Night landing facility, which is a long pending demand of flyers in the southern districts, though has been installed awaits license for commissioning. Once the facility is commissioned, Spice Jet Airways is ready to operate services from Thoothukudi to Mumbai and Hyderabad, said Michael Raj, senior executive of Spice Jet airways.
Chairperson of the advisory council meeting on Monday, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, also the Lok Sabha MP from Thoothukudi, promised to take up the demands of passengers in the southern districts with the civil aviation ministry.
Kanimozhi also suggested for another phase of land acquisition so that it could be utilised.
