• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Port Info

• Ships in Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Chennai , March 8

AIRPORTS in the southern region are gearing up for double-digit growth in international traffic with major upgradation and expansion plans on the anvil.

The southern region experienced a growth of 25 per cent during the last six months in air passenger traffic and a 17 per cent growth in air cargo traffic over the previous year, Mr K. Ramalingam, Chairman, Airports Authority of India, (AAI), said.

This was substantially more than the 8 to 10 per cent growth, which the region has been experiencing in the past, he said.

Talking about the expansion plans, he said that at Kozhikode, besides expansion, the international and domestic terminals are being integrated.

The project cost is about Rs 95 crore and the work would be completed by mid 2006.

Visakhapatnam will get a new terminal building with a 10,000 ft runway. The project cost for the terminal building is about Rs 95 crore and the tendering process is to start soon.

The project would be completed within 12 months from the award of the work.

The project cost for the runway, apron and the hangar is about Rs 191 crore and will be shared by the State Government, the Defence Ministry and the AAI.

Mr Ramalingam said that design for the terminal building in Thiruvananthapuram was ready.

The AAI had called for a design competition from firms of architects and a jury comprising eminent people selected one design.

The project cost is about Rs 100 crore and the process of getting clearances is on.

Design competitions will be held for both Tiruchi and Madurai airports and the project cost would be about Rs 45 crore each.

The old departure terminal in Chennai airport is also being upgraded.

The funding for the expansion would come from internal resources, Mr Ramalingam said.

Earlier, speaking at an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) seminar on Search & Rescue, he said that AAI in association with the Indian Space Research Organisation has planned to implement a satellite-based augmentation system called GAGAN that will provide the necessary satellite-based navigation capabilities not only to India but also to the neighbouring countries.

He said that India has planned to provide remote controlled air ground VHF communication through VSAT using Indian satellites with exclusive transponders for civil aviation purposes at a cost of about Rs 20 crore, which will be implemented in 2005-06.

Mr Ramalingam said that the surveillance systems have been implemented over the Bay of Bengal, the Chennai and Kolkata flight information regions (FIRs).

Similar systems are planned at Mumbai and Delhi FIRs at a total cost of Rs 32 crore.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
NRKs, exporters oppose Air India move to curtail flights to Dubai

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line