AAI to add more facilities at Coimbatore International Airport

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to add more facilities to the Coimbatore International Airport as a part of its airport expansion project.

Now the airport will have bigger turn pads on both ends of the runway to ensure smooth turning of aircraft, especially the larger ones.

S Senthil Valavan, Airport Director, told the media that the runway already has turn pads on either end, but it would be further expanded.

He added that larger aircraft have bigger bodies, which need large turn pads on the ends of the runway. The already existing runway is 2,990 metres long and 45 metres wide.

The runway can only be expanded if more land is acquired under the airport expansion project.

The airport has seven new aprons or aircraft parking areas, increasing the aprons to 18. Valavan said that from the seven, five are for A 320 type aircraft, and the rest are for ATR type aircraft.

The newly added aprons were to accommodate base flights that make a night halt and leave the destinations in the early hours.

He said that three base flights are currently operational from Coimbatore to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.

He said that the new aprons are likely to prompt airlines to operate more base flights and avail governments concession for Value Added Tax (VAT) for aviation turbine fuel for aircrafts operational between 11 pm and 7 am.

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