Coimbatore airport expansion

The work on expansion and modernisation of the Coimbatore airport terminal would be completed in the next 24 months, an official said on Tuesday.

All the tender formalities had been completed and contracts awarded for the Rs 78-crore project.

As per terms of references, the construction activities should be completed within a period of 24 months from the date of award of the contract, Director of the airport K Hemalatha said.

Under the project, the carpet area of the terminal would be increased to 14,000 square metres from the present 6,000 sq mt, she said. Besides, provision would also be made for aero bridges, escalators and four elevators.

Once the expansion was completed, the passenger handling capacity of the airport would almost double from the present 350 at a given time.

The airport runway had already been extended to 9,800 ft and presently it was handling 28 flights per day operated by three international and six domestic airlines.

The cargo handling capacity of 40 tons was also to be doubled with additional infrastructure at a budget of Rs 1.5 crore and works had already commenced.

It was also proposed to lay a parallel taxi track and the detailed project report was being scrutinised by the Airports Authority of India Board, she said.