The new integrated passenger terminal building under construction at the Tiruchi international airport has been targeted for completion in June 2023, Sanjeev Jindal, Executive Director ( Engineering-Civil), Southern Region, Airports Authority of India , New Delhi, said here on Monday. 

Nearly 70 % of the terminal building works had been completed till now with the construction activities “going on day and night”, Mr. Sanjeev Jindal told reporters after inspecting the progress of the multi-crore project.

“It will be the most beautiful airport building in the country once completed and we want to create it as a model in this region”, he said and added that the best of the materials were being used in its construction.

The new building to be equipped with a host of facilities would be approximately 5.5 times bigger than the existing building. All kinds of automation on a par with international standards would be provided at the new terminal building. Mr. Jindal said he had told the officials to increase the manpower to expedite the construction works.  It would be a green building designed to attain the GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) four-star rating for its sustainable features.

Expressing satisfaction over the progress of the construction works, Mr. Jindal said technicians and experts were keeping a watch on the quality. Despite facing constraints in the form of COVID-19 pandemic and the heavy rains a few months ago here, the progress made so far in the project was quite satisfactory, he pointed out. 

More than 10 additional parking bays had already been completed to accommodate bigger aircraft and plans were afoot to commission them. The passenger handling capacity at the new terminal building during peak hour would be 2,900 passengers, including 2,300 international travellers. The new building would have 48 check-in counters; 40 immigration counters; 15 x-ray machines; five escalators; 28 elevators; five baggage claim carousels and 10 aero bridges.

Stating that COVID-19 pandemic did impact the pace of the project, Mr. Jindal, however, said there was a provision in the project for cost escalation owing to time delay. The entire project would be completed at a cost of around ₹ 1,000 crore, he said adding that the target was to complete it in June 2023.  The futuristic building would be able to handle passenger traffic in the next 10 years. 

Replying to a query, Mr. Jindal said the Airports Authority of India had plans to use the existing passenger terminal building for cargo expansion and as a training centre once the new building was inaugurated.