New terminal bldg at Guwahati airport to be opened next week

The international airport at Guwahati will soon offer passengers world class amenities at its swanky new integrated terminal building, which is set for inauguration next week, the AAI said today.
Expanded and modernised at an investment of Rs 1,232 crore, the new facility will be inaugurated jointly by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on January 28, a spokesperson of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) told PTI here.
The existing building at the AAI-run Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Guwahti currently handles 3.8 million passengers annually against a designed capacity of 3.5 million passengers.

"Considering the rapidly growing air passenger traffic to and from Guwahati, which is the gateway to the ASEAN region, besides to the north-east of the country, the airport has been developed as an inter and intra-regional hub," the spokesperson said.
The airport handled 3.8 million passengers last fiscal, logging a 36 per cent growth over the 2015-16 period, he said.
A mini-ratna category Public Sector Undertaking, the AAI at present manages 129 airports -- 98 domestic, 23 international and eight customs -- pan India.

Spread over an area of 90,000 sq mt as against 16,800 sq mt of the existing structure, the new integrated facility will have a handling capacity of 3,100 passengers per hour, including 200 international ones, the AAI said.

Besides, it will have 64 check-in counters, 20 self check-in kiosks ((CUSS) as well as 16 counters - eight for immigration and an equal number for customs - for a seamless boarding process.
In addition to this, the AAI has also provided for six arrival carousels, 10 aerobridges and 20 aircraft parking bays at the facility, the spokesperson said.