Coimbatore Airport's ₹2,200-Crore Expansion Master Plan Gets NITI Aayog Approval, Awaits CCE Nod
The ₹2,200-crore master plan for the expansion of Coimbatore International Airport has received approval from NITI Aayog and is now awaiting clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Expenditure, Airport Director Mohammad Arif said. He noted that the land required to begin expansion works under the master plan has already been acquired.
The expansion requires 627 acres in addition to the airport's current spread of 420 acres, taking the total area to over 1,047 acres once complete. Of the 627 acres required, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already received 621 acres, with the remaining six acres, acquired by the district administration, expected to be handed over soon.
Under the master plan, the airport's peak-hour capacity is set to rise from 1,770 passengers to 4,200 passengers. The proposed new terminal building will span about 75,000 square metres, designed to handle 12 million passengers annually compared with the current capacity of 3.63 million. The runway is planned to be extended from 2,990 metres to 3,810 metres to accommodate wide-body aircraft and longer international routes.
The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) issued the Terms of Reference to AAI for the project in July, and AAI is in the process of submitting the Environment Impact Assessment report for SEIAA clearance. According to Arif, the expansion project has achieved 75-80 percent compliance on technical clearances. Once construction begins, the project is expected to take about three years to complete. Separately, interim expansion works covering 1,000 square metres are under way to ease congestion at the existing terminal, with completion expected by December 2026.