CHENNAI: With the State government assuring to provide 96 acres in the next few months, Chennai Airport would soon host wide-bodied aircraft, known as Code-D in aviation industry parlance.
During a meeting recently, TN government agreed to provide 96 acres for creating the infrastructure, airport director G Chandramouli told Express, adding they have been assured that the land would be provided in the next six to eight months.
“We wanted 200 acres of land for approach lights, basic strip and navigational equipment. At the meeting, the govt agreed to provide us 96 acres – 14 acres for approach lights, 79 acres for basic strip and three acres for navigational equipment,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of Chennai Airport launching ‘Project Smile Week’ on Wednesday.
This would help Chennai Airport operate Code-D aircraft, the wide-bodied planes that more and more operators are eyeing to deal with severe congestion at metro airports. With limited slots available at the airport, the only option the airlines have is to opt for the bigger planes that can accommodate more passengers. The second phase of expansion has begun, with Aecom, a global firm, being awarded the consultancy contract, he said. Under this phase, the international and domestic terminals would be integrated, resulting in annual capacity increase to 30 million.
Meanwhile, passengers entering Chennai Airport were greeted with a smile, sweets and a rose. The ‘Project Smile Week’, a brainchild of the airport director was to make Chennai Airport more passenger-friendly. There were events by Hindustan Institute of Engineering and Technology as well as other cultural programmes.