Coimbatore: In another reminder to the state government to complete the process of land acquisition for expansion of the city airport as soon as possible, data from last year shows that the Coimbatore International Airport is already handling more passengers than its capacity. The civil aviation ministry says the airport, which has domestic and international flights, had handled 28.4 lakh passengers, compared to handling capacity of 20 lakh passengers. The numbers have also been steadily increased by 10% to 20% a year.
Replying to a question raised by member of Parliament Vishnu Prasad MK, minister of state for civil aviation Hardeep Singh Puri admitted that many airports, including Coimbatore, was handling more passengers than it was capable of. He said the ministry had a budget outlay of Rs 25,000 crore to expand multiple airports, but the process was getting delayed due to land acquisition issues.
Until last year, when Jet Airways shut operations resulting in the number of passengers being handled falling by 6.7% or from 30 lakh people a year to 28 lakh people a year, the Coimbatore International Airport has been seeing a steady growth in passenger traffic. From handling 15 lakh passengers in 2014-15, it doubled to 30 lakh passengers in 2018-’19, which is 50% higher than its passenger handling capacity.
23/09/20 Times of India
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