Airport expansion put on hold

Fate of international terminal expansion to be decided at a high-level meeting next week

Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Thursday put on hold the work on the new terminal of the Ahmedabad airport, seeking to take a relook at the project, including the location finalised for the international terminal.

Visiting the Ahmedabad Airport, Patel, not convinced with the idea of constructing the new airport building opposite the domestic terminal, ordered to stop work as it is.

He said a high-level meeting will be held in New Delhi next week with officials of the Airports Authority of India to chalk out the plan of action for the new building.

The management of the Airports Authority of India had earlier approved in principle the plan for the facelift of domestic and international terminals of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport in Ahmedabad.

Over Rs 300 crore has already been allocated for the facelift and the work was expected to be completed in the next two years.

The project includes a plan for constructing a new international terminal building at a cost of over Rs 100 crore.

Construction of the new building for the international terminal of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport was scheduled to commence in the next two months and the plan was approved by the AAI.

"Constructing the new international terminal building opposite the domestic terminal is an awkward arrangement. It should ideally be just adjacent or in the same line of the domestic terminal. I have ordered that the Rs 100 crore project of the new building construction be put on hold pending the meeting with AAI officials," the minister said.

He said all aspects of the new building project, including its location, will be decided at the meeting.

The international terminal building was to be constructed over an area of 25,000 square metres with steel structures and arrow bridges and was to be centrally air-conditioned.

The proposed building was expected to have modern electrical and mechanical facilities of international standards, which included best interiors with complete building management systems and a single-point control.

However, upgradation work on the domestic terminal will continue uninterrupted. The domestic terminal of the airport is already under upgradation.

However, the fate of the new domestic departure and domestic arrival building, for which a fund of over Rs 100 crore has been sanctioned, hangs in balance, as these were planned to be constructed adjacent to the existing domestic terminal.

Apart from the new international terminal, AAI has been working to give a facelift to the existing international terminal with an investment of over Rs 1 crore, which includes expansion of the existing terminal between 10 to 14 metres on the city side.

With the expansion of the existing international terminal, airlines will get enough space for their office use.

Apparently unhappy with the existing facilities, the minister said, "Ahmedabad airport needs to be upgraded. The airport is not futuristic enough and we aim to provide more national and international connectivity at Ahmedabad. The Union government will entirely fund the new project and international architects will design the airport on lines of the Singapore International Airport."

Airport director N S Jaladhari, said, "Upgradation work on the domestic terminal will continue as per plans. However, we will put on hold plans to invite bids for construction of the new terminal."

When his attention was drawn to the fact that adequate space is not available adjacent to the domestic terminal for the international terminal, Jaladhari said, "That is for higher authorities to consider."