Kolkata airport to get new ATC

The Airport Authority of India has sanctioned setting up of a new air traffic control tower replacing the existing one at the NSC Bose International Aiport in the city at a cost Rs 270 crore, an official said.
"The AAI board has sanctioned the setting up of a new ATC complex for the airport which will replace the existing one. The board has sanctioned Rs 270 crore for this," chairman of AAI V P Agarwal said.
He said the construction cost of the new ATC building would be Rs 120 crore while Rs 150 crore would be spent on purchasing equipment.

The present equipment would be sent to some other airport, he told reporters here today.
Agarwal said the airport would also have a new primary radar. The construction time for the ATC complex would be 30 months, he said.
The height of the new ATC tower would be 86 metres against 35 metres of the existing one.

About the new terminal which was opened in January this year, he said there had been some teething problems and steps were being taken to resolve them.
Agarwal said the tax on ATF in West Bengal was very high at 29 per cent, the highest in the country.

"We have written to the government for reducing the tax on ATF so that carriers could refuel their aircraft from the city which would enable them to offer cheap tickets for the next destination. The government is yet to take a decision", he said.
Although this would mean immediate revenue loss for the state government, this would be compensated by the increase in other economic activities, he said.
The user development fee (UDF) charges for the new terminal had been kept at a low level, he added.