Mangalore airport all set to handle international flights

India's first all concrete runway commissioned

Mangalore airport, Karnataka's second biggest airport, is all set to receive its first international flight by end of this month. A majority of the expansion work at the airport at Bajpe, 22 km from Mangalore, has been completed at a cost of Rs 45 crore by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The AAI has built India's first all concrete runway stretching around 2.5 km (8,046 feet long and 150 ft wide), which is suitable for the landing and take-off of Airbus A319 and A320. The runway conforms to all the relevant international standards.

Said M R Vasudeva, director, Mangalore airport, "We have completed most of the works including runway and approach lights to facilitate night landing. We are currently waiting for the customs department to put up x-ray baggage machine. Once that is done, the airport will be ready to receive the first international flight."

Air India Express, the low-cost international airline of Air India has expressed its willingness to operate the first flight from Mangalore to Sharjah. "They are waiting for the installation of baggage machines and completion of immigration and customs facilities. We expect the first international flight to commence by end of May," he said.

State government officials have cited the non-availability of manpower, as required under the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security guidelines, to handle the immigration counter.

While the flights to the Gulf region will commence by end of May, the airport will have to wait a couple of years before it becomes an international airport in the true sense of the word with a large terminal building that can handle passengers for several international flights daily.

Vasudeva said AAI is planning to construct a new terminal building to handle large numbers of passengers. The existing terminal building is capable of handling 180-200 passengers at a time. It will be used for domestic passengers during the day and overseas passengers during the night. The total cost of expansion of the airport is estimated at Rs 150 crore.

"We are currently waiting for the state government to hand over additional 58 acres for construction of a new terminal building. This will reduce the distance from the city to the airport by 8 km. With the facilities existing at present we can handle only one flight at a time. The new terminal building will facilitate multiple flights at a time," Vasudeva told Business Standard.

AAI has proposed to build a new arrival hall and a taxiway to connect the old and new runways, a new control tower, fire station building, shopping centre, jewellery and book shops, restaurant and gymnasium to meet the requirements of international passengers, he said.

The expansion of the airport, conceived way back in 1989 was delayed till 2003 when the state government agreed to hand over an additional 247 acres. The work commenced in April 2004 and the runway work was completed in March 2006. The expansion project was made possible by the "rigourous efforts put in by the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the district administration," Vasudeva added.

The newly laid concrete runway was made operational on May 10 when the Jet Airways flight from Bangalore touched down according to the Visual Flight Rules. The full commissioning will happen as per the Instrument Flight Rule in due course with the installation of the Instrumental Landing System, Vasudeva said.