AAI sets Dec 31 as the new deadline for new terminal in Kolkata

Following delay in arrival of aerobridges, Airport Authority of India (AAI) has revised the deadline at December 31 for commissioning the new terminal in Kolkata Airport.

According to earlier deadline, the new terminal was supposed to be ready by October, 2012. “A special ship carrying the first lot of five aerobridges has started from the Port of Jakarta in Indonesia. The vessel should reach Kolkata in another two weeks. The installation will take a moth or so,” airport director BP Sharma said.

A total of 15 aerobridges are likely to be installed at the integrated terminal. However, according to Sharma, the terminal can be operational with five aerobridges as the transfer of operation from existing terminal to the new one would take place in phased manner.

This confirms that the inauguration of the new terminal in Kolkata would take place only in January, 2013.

A Thai-Indian consortium of ITD-ITD Cementation was hired by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to carry out this modernisation task in November 2008. The new terminal will also offer modern taxiways and extension of a runway so that it can handle the giant Airbus A-380 aircraft. The 195,000 square metre new six level integrated passenger terminal building will be able to handle 25 million passengers annually as against the present annual capacity of  5 million.