Pranab to innaugurate the new terminal in Kolkata airport on Jan 23

President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to  inaugurate the Rs 2,500 crore-terminal at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBI) here on January 23.

According to Kolkata Airport officials, invitation is already been sent to President Pranab Mukherjee requesting his presence on the day, which is also the birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Union civil Aviation minister Ajit Singh and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee are also likely to be present for the innauguration.

However, initially, the new terminal will be used only for international flight operation.

Apart from international airlines -- Emirates, Qatar, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Airasia, Druk Air, Silk Air, China Eastern Airlines, United Airways, GMG, Biman Bangladesh, which are operating out of Kolkata, Air India and Jet Airways have international services from the city.

“Only five aerobridges are being commissioned as of now, which will be adequate for international services. The domestic flight operation will be shifted to new terminal later in phases as the pending works get completed,” an airport official said.

A Thai-Indian consortium of ITD-ITD Cementation was hired by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to carry this modernisation task in November 2008. The new facility will offer a new terminal, 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 present annual capacity of 5 million.