Tamil Nadu   

Defence Ministry yet to respond to AAI plea for land

T.S. Shankar

Airport expansion plan is in limbo

CHENNAI: : With British Airways deciding to enhance the bi-weekly services between London and Chennai to six a week from October this year and more new entrants planning to fly non-stop to the Anna International Terminal, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is battling it out with the Defence Ministry for acquiring 19 acres for expansion.

Highly placed sources said the Union Civil Aviation Ministry had written to the Defence Ministry urging it to facilitate early implementation of the expansion work on the operational area of the terminal to cater to wide-bodied jetliners.

The Chennai airport is preparing to handle the 550-plus-seater Airbus-380s. An exclusive parking bay is getting ready to handle super jumbos. The AAI has identified Chennai as one of the major gateways to handle this jetliner.

"The AAI has offered alternative prime land after an agreement with the Defence Ministry. But, there has been no pro-active approach from the Defence Ministry even after several meetings conducted by senior officials of the AAI in New Delhi and Chennai," the sources said.

Last Sunday, AAI Chairman K. Ramalingam impressed upon Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran the need for 19 acres for expansion.

Mr. Maran said he would take up the matter with his Cabinet colleague, Pranab Mukherjee.

Currently, Lufthansa, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Gulf Air, Oman Air, Thai Airways, Emirates Airlines, Air Mauritius, SriLankan Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Delta Airlines, Air India, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara operate from the AIT.

In this backdrop, the AAI has urged State Governments to provide land free for providing better infrastructure. As part of its efforts to further improve facilities in the operational area of the Chennai airport, more parking bays and aerobridges have been planned to cater to passenger traffic in future.

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