 "Vijayawada Airport to get modern facilities, integrated terminal building")
A new state-of-the-art Integrated Terminal Building is all set to be constructed at the Vijayawada International Airport with modern passenger -friendly facilities such as Baggage Handling System, Arrival Baggage claim Carousels, Central Air-conditioning , Public Address System, Flight Information Display System(FIDS), and Check-in Counters with Common Use Terminal Equipment(CUTE).
The Bhoomi Pujan of the new building, which will be spread over an area of 35000 sqm, was performed on Tuesday by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. The building boasts of a peak hour handling capacity of 1200 passengers (800 Domestic +400 International). The annual passengers handling capacity will be around 3.33 MPPA.
The building will have 24 check-in counters, one baggage conveyor in the departure area and five baggage claim carousels. Since the airport is international, it will have a total of 14 immigration counters, 10 for arrivals and four for departure; four custom counters, three for arrival and one for departure. It can hold up to 1200 cars out of which 200 parking slots will be for taxi. The total cost of the new building is Rs 611 crores.
The design is inspired by the rural-urban blend of Vijayawada's culture, the exteriors and interiors of the airport have been designed to portray a unique and smart gateway to this region. The local environment and cultural reference, as well as the historical art and architecture of the region, are interpreted in a modern way to add grandeur to space.
Construction of the new facility is being done by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which manages over 100 airports in India and has been taking major initiatives to improve air connectivity and enhance infrastructure at the airports by providing world-class facilities to passengers.