AAI’s new Chennai airport terminals to take off today
1 Feb 2013 5:10 AM IST
Airports Authority Of India (AAI) is ready for the dedication of the newly built international and domestic terminals and upgraded airside facilities at Chennai Airport by Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Thursday. With this, the capacity of India's airports is expected to reach 271.24 million passengers by the end of the 12th five year plan, which will be adequate to handle the projected demand of 268.44 million passengers up to 2016-17.
To meet this target, AAI has already constructed and inaugurated terminal buildings at Kolkata, Raipur, Lucknow and Indore. Lauding the infrastructure developed by Airports Authority Of India, President Pranab Mukherjee has said that the ‘new Kolkata airport terminal is an example of how the public sector can also create a world class facilities’.
The design of Chennai's domestic and international terminal buildings was selected on the basis of global competition. Its unique feature is 'the arrival tube' which connects the land side with the air side operations through the central courtyard. Speaking to the media, AAI Chairman V P Agrawal said that to handle the increased passenger volume and cope with future growth and demand, AAI has constructed new domestic and international terminal buildings with a combined area of 1,33,462 sq m.
The handling capacity of the terminals will increase from 6 million and 3 million passengers to 16 million and 7 million per annum respectively. They have a carefully crafted, efficient floor plate to make sure that every inch of terminal space is utilised. The state-of-the-art buildings have spacious glass and steel structures. The design incorporates vibrant gardens and the structural framework to allow natural light to permeate the terminal with a constantly changing pattern of shade and shadow. Lush gardens are visible throughout the terminal creating unique dialogue between engineering and nature.
At present, five major airports are being operationalised under the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode at New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin. A new terminal building is under construction at Mumbai airport too, with Phase I likely to be ready for international operations by August. Phase II is scheduled to be ready for domestic operations by August, 2014.
The existing greenfield airport at Bengaluru is undergoing Phase II expansion to meet the growing demand. The Union government has also approved 15 more airports under the Greenfield Airports Policy being developed, the majority under the PPP mode.
Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Varanasi and Lucknow airports have also been declared International airports. AAI now manages 125 airports, including 19 international airports, 80 domestic airports and 19 other civil enclaves.
Earlier, these airports were customs airports where international facilities were extended as per norms in terms of customs, immigration, health, animal and plant quarantine on a temporary basis. This has opened the door for more international flights to different destinations.
Airports Authority of India has also taken several initiatives to upgrade airport and airspace infrastructure to cater to the continued growth of air traffic with greater safety and efficiency. AAI as air navigation service provider (ANS), responsible for the provision of air navigation services, has embarked on an ANS infrastructure upgradation strategy with the objective of ensuring safety, efficiency, cost-effectiveness of aircraft operations and long-term and sustainable environmental benefits.
The comprehensive strategy has been to transition from voice to data link, ground to satellite based-navigation, augmentation of radar surveillance, implementation of ATM automation and enhancement in ATM procedures.
To meet this target, AAI has already constructed and inaugurated terminal buildings at Kolkata, Raipur, Lucknow and Indore. Lauding the infrastructure developed by Airports Authority Of India, President Pranab Mukherjee has said that the ‘new Kolkata airport terminal is an example of how the public sector can also create a world class facilities’.
The design of Chennai's domestic and international terminal buildings was selected on the basis of global competition. Its unique feature is 'the arrival tube' which connects the land side with the air side operations through the central courtyard. Speaking to the media, AAI Chairman V P Agrawal said that to handle the increased passenger volume and cope with future growth and demand, AAI has constructed new domestic and international terminal buildings with a combined area of 1,33,462 sq m.
The handling capacity of the terminals will increase from 6 million and 3 million passengers to 16 million and 7 million per annum respectively. They have a carefully crafted, efficient floor plate to make sure that every inch of terminal space is utilised. The state-of-the-art buildings have spacious glass and steel structures. The design incorporates vibrant gardens and the structural framework to allow natural light to permeate the terminal with a constantly changing pattern of shade and shadow. Lush gardens are visible throughout the terminal creating unique dialogue between engineering and nature.
At present, five major airports are being operationalised under the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode at New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin. A new terminal building is under construction at Mumbai airport too, with Phase I likely to be ready for international operations by August. Phase II is scheduled to be ready for domestic operations by August, 2014.
The existing greenfield airport at Bengaluru is undergoing Phase II expansion to meet the growing demand. The Union government has also approved 15 more airports under the Greenfield Airports Policy being developed, the majority under the PPP mode.
Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Varanasi and Lucknow airports have also been declared International airports. AAI now manages 125 airports, including 19 international airports, 80 domestic airports and 19 other civil enclaves.
Earlier, these airports were customs airports where international facilities were extended as per norms in terms of customs, immigration, health, animal and plant quarantine on a temporary basis. This has opened the door for more international flights to different destinations.
Airports Authority of India has also taken several initiatives to upgrade airport and airspace infrastructure to cater to the continued growth of air traffic with greater safety and efficiency. AAI as air navigation service provider (ANS), responsible for the provision of air navigation services, has embarked on an ANS infrastructure upgradation strategy with the objective of ensuring safety, efficiency, cost-effectiveness of aircraft operations and long-term and sustainable environmental benefits.
The comprehensive strategy has been to transition from voice to data link, ground to satellite based-navigation, augmentation of radar surveillance, implementation of ATM automation and enhancement in ATM procedures.
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