Thiruvananthapruam: It is a new dawn for the aviation sector of the State capital as the new international terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport is being thrown open to the public on Tuesday.
The new terminal, which boasts of state-of-the-art facilities, will become operational on Tuesday with an Air India Express (AIE) flight from Sharjah reaching the new terminal at 6 pm and another AIE flight leaving for Dubai at 7 pm.
Airport Director G Chandramouli said that except for certain issues pertaining to cargo, everything was in place. “We are hopeful that the new terminal will become operational on Tuesday itself,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Kerala State Industrial Enterprises (KSIE) Deputy General Manager (Cargo) Abdul Rehman said that all arrangements for operating cargo from the new terminal were ready. “The Customs authorities will be giving temporary notification for operating air cargo from a temporary facility set up near the new terminal,” he said.
It is a long-pending demand of city residents being realised. Cries for a new terminal date back several decades. The state capital had also witnessed a series of agitations demanding a new terminal for the Thiruvananthapruam Airport.
The city airport had come into existence in 1932 following the initiative of Colonel G V Raja, husband of Karthika Thirunal of the Travancore royal family. The first flight landed in Thiruvananthapuruam in 1935. It was none other than J R D Tata who had flown an aircraft of the Tata Airlines then.
The airport was later developed as a domestic terminal and was upgraded as an international airport in 1991.
Following persistent demands from the State, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) prepared a master plan that envisages a new international terminal, a domestic terminal, a new air traffic control station and a cargo complex. The State Government has so far acquired 30 acres of land, where the new international terminal has come up.
01/03/11 ExpressBuzz
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