‘Terminally’ ill airport will have to wait

Lucknow The wait for the new terminal building at Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport in Lucknow may not end this year. Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials in the city are not sure whether the terminal will be completed in 2010, but they say that they are trying to make it operational by October — in time for the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi.
The new double-storey terminal building will cover an area of 20,000 sq m — almost double the size of the present terminal. While it will be used only for international flights, the existing terminal will be remodelled for domestic flights.
Airport Director Atul Dikshit said the new terminal will have aerobridges, simplified baggage check-in and boarding systems and spacious departure and arrival lounges. The passenger capacity will be increased from the current 500 to 1,000.
Work on the Rs 80-crore project had begun in January 2008. It was to be completed in April 2009 — later it was said that the terminal would be ready in October. But only 50 per cent of the work has been completed.
The AAI General Manager (Engineering Projects), K K Singh, said: “So far, mostly civil work has been done. Almost 50 per cent of the work is still pending.” The construction of the new parking and power sub-station is in the initial stage.
06/01/10 Lalmani Verma/ExpressIndia

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Categories: Airports Jan 2010