Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Runway expansion nearing completion

Staff Reporter

More flight operators likely to begin services; airport registers a profit of Rs. 2.79 crores in 2004-05

COIMBATORE: The first phase of runway expansion from 7,500 ft to 8,500 ft at Peelamedu Airport at a cost of Rs. 20 crores is almost over. The expanded runway is likely to be commissioned by August end, the Airport Director, C. Vijaykumar, told reporters here on Tuesday.

Earlier, the runway had the capacity to accommodate A-310s and A-320s with a maximum load of 74 tonnes. With the extension of the runway, the Path Classification Number (PCN) has been increased from 42 to 86 (it denotes the capacity of the runway to accommodate load). It can now accommodate 767s with a maximum load of 204 tonnes.

Parking bays

"In the subsequent phase the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has plans to expand the runway by another 1,500 ft and bring in three more parking bays in addition to the existing three. The total outlay for the entire expansion (inclusive of both phases) is Rs. 42 crores," he added. In the first phase, the AAI had already created an isolation bay for parking `aircraft in distress' or those identified to have security threats. The AAI was also planning to have one more terminal in the subsequent phases. The existing facilities were found to be comfortable for meeting the growth in traffic up to 2007-08.

Land requirement

Initially, the AAI had planned to acquire 114.90 acres and with the requirement coming down while planning the expansion, the AAI scaled down its requirement to just 80.92 acres. A sum of Rs 16.98 crores had already been remitted to the revenue administration and the AAI would be taking possession of the land soon, he added.

Destinations

The airport at present had 11 landings and 11 take-offs a day on an average. These included three international arrivals and departures to and from Sharjah besides three landings and take-offs by SriLankan Airways cargo freighter. The airport earlier had only two operators - Jet Airways and Indian Airlines. The new players included Air Sahara and Air Deccan.

Focus

By August, Paramount Airways would begin services from Coimbatore. In the first phase, the airliner was expected to focus on the Coimbatore - Mumbai - Delhi sector. It was expected to cover smaller destinations in the South in the subsequent phases.

SriLankan Airways was already exploring the prospects of beginning operations in the Coimbatore - Colombo sector besides one more destination in any of the South East Asian countries. As against the national average of 11.4 per cent growth in traffic, Coimbatore had recorded a growth of 22.6 per cent.

Passenger traffic

The passenger traffic per month had touched an all-time high of over 49,000 during May and the monthly average was 35,000 to 38,000 passengers, he said.

Coimbatore stands 13th in the list of 30 major airports in the country while the first 11 positions went to airports with more international connections. On the financial front too, the airport was looking up. A loss-making airport in 2002-03, it earned a profit of Rs. 70 lakhs during 2003-04 and a record profit of Rs. 279 lakhs in 2004-05.

Navigation systems

With regard to the electrical works, the Director said that the AAI was spending nearly Rs. 1 crore towards installation of lights at the runway edges. It was in conformity with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) prescribed standards. The standards prescribed by ICAO called for uniformity in runway lights across the world.

The work for laying cables and installation of runway approach lights was in progress in 900 m and lamps have been procured from France.

The Coimbatore Airport was having Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPI) systems to guide a pilot on the height and the descending levels that he should maintain while approaching the runway for a safe landing.

The PAPI facility was being furthered to the extended runway and to the threshold approach area as well.

The AAI was in the process of transforming from an instrument landing system to overcome problems relating to connectivity with other airports. It was going in for Satellite Connectivity in major airports and in the subsequent phases it was planning to go in for a complete Satellite Navigation System (SNS) known as Future Air Navigation System (FANS) and the AAI was working with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Bangalore for finalising the project.

Charges reduced

The X-ray charges had been reduced to 0.75 paise a kg as against the Rs 1.50 a kg. Similarly, cold storage charges for perishable products had been brought down to 66 paise a kg as against the earlier rate of Rs. 2.29 a kg.

The existing dedicated cargo freighter of SriLankan Airways was bringing in an import cargo of 10 tonnes and was taking an export cargo of 12 to 13 tonnes, registering a full capacity utilisation.

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