New airport proposed for Thiruvananthapuram

The draft master plan-2040 for Thiruvananthapuram city has included a proposal for a new airport. The plan, set to be presented in the corporation council, pitches the new airport near the outer ring road in city’s border and suggests land acquisition through land pooling. It also proposes an integrated terminal for domestic and international services as part of the development of the existing airport. The proposal assumes significance considering the issues related to land acquisition for the present airport and the coastal erosion at Shanghumugham beach in the last two-three years. The pitch for a new airport also marks a transition from a proposal under the capital region development project (CRDP)-II to construct a runway at sea parallel to Shanghumugham beach near the existing airport. As part of CRDP-II, the proposal was to expand the existing airport by constructing a new runway offshore with connectivity to existing runway through a new taxi bay. The runway was proposed on land reclaimed from the sea and it was expected to address issues associated with land acquisition. However, over the last two-three years, coastal stretches in the district have been battered by strong waves and even the Shanghumugham Airport Road had to be closed down after a significant portion of the beach was lost.