Airport

Trichirapalli Airport

History

          This airport was built by the British during World War II and primarily used by the British Airforce during the world wars. Damaged aircraft which landed in the airport were taken to a workshop in Ponmalai, at a distance of 2 km, repaired and brought back into service. The airport was given permission for civilian operations after the war. Actual passenger traffic started only in the early '80s. Air Lanka started its operations in 1981 with a weekly flight to Colombo and subsequently increased its operations to 14 flights a week currently. Indian Airlines started its operations to Chennai and mid-east countries in mid '80s.

         Air Ceylon (Srilankan Airlines) began operations in the late '40s while Indian started services before 1980.Both airlines operated flights from Trichy to Colombo through Jaffna. Till 4 October 2012 the airport was an Customs Airport only, from that date it was given International Airport status by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

       The Indra ATS Automation system was installed at Trichy in April, 2012 to help the Air Traffic Control increase safety and security at the airport.

The airport was officially granted international status by the Union Cabinet on 3 October 2012.

Time Line

• 1930-40's - According to P. R. Brouse (Air Traffic controller at Trichy airport in 1942), the airport was used as race course during these period. The airport had no building except an ATC and a runway 600 metres long.

• 1936 - First Airmail for Colombo from India was carried by the TATA's "Goodwill Flight", piloted by H.D.Barucha on December 23, 1936, which took off at Bombay to Colombo after stopping at Hyderabad,Madras and Trichinopoly.

• 1941 - A regular service in the route Bombay - Trivandrum - Tirchinopoly stopped earlier was resumed on November 4, 1941.

• 1947 - Ceylon Government asked permission to Indian Government for the operation of Flights between Colombo and Trichinopoly of 3 trips weekly.

• 1948 - Trichinopoly Aerodrome was given an improvement for full functioning. The Government of India Suggested the Operation of "Air Cylone Service" to Trichinopoly, as there were no other Indian Airline operated on the Trichinopoly - Madras route, the flight was carrying Maily and Freight on this Sector.

• 1948 - Air Cylone Inauguration a regular Weekly Commercial service between Colombo and Karachi on December 3, 1948, using the Dakota Flight with Passengers through Trichinopoly and Bombay

Terminals

The airport has two adjacent terminals. Currently the Integrated International terminal is being used for both International and Domestic air traffic. The old terminal at the airport has been converted into an International cargo complex. The 4,000 m² (43,000 sq ft) cargo complex was commissioned for operations on 21 November 2011.

Passenger terminal

Srilankan Airlines Airbus A320-200 parked at the ramp area.

AIX and UL parked at TRZ using Aero Bridges

Srilankan Airlines A320 using Aero Bridges

The new integrated passenger terminal built at cost of 80 crore (US$15.12 million) was inaugurated on 21 February 2009 and started its operations from 1 June 2009.The two storyed terminal has a total floor area of 11,700 m² (126,000 sq ft). The terminal is designed to handle 400 passengers at a given point of time. Some of the features of the new terminal include:

• 12 check-in counters
• 4 Custom counters (1 departure + 3 arrival)
• 16 Immigration Counters (8 departure + 8 arrival)
• 3 Conveyor belts (47 m (154 ft) each)
• 5 X-ray scanner for baggage (3 for registered baggage and 2 for hand baggage)
• Security check units = 2
• Total aircraft stands = 7
• 3 for code D aircraft
• 4 for code C aircraft

Cargo complex

The old terminal at the airport has been converted into an International cargo complex at a cost of 1 crores.The 4,000 m² (43,000 sq ft) cargo complex was commissioned for operations on 21 November 2011.The Central Board of Excise and Customs had earlier approved and notified the airport as an air cargo complex.The One-time holding capacity of the cargo terminal is 250 metric tonnesThe airport is the gateway for foreign export as there is no easy way for export from the central region of Tamil Nadu.

Special Facilities

• State-of-the-art X-Ray scanning system

• Embedded Electronic Weighing scale

• Precision Scale

• Strong Room for valuable cargo

• Trained and certified Officer for accepting & handling Dangerous Goods

• Cold Room for perishable cargo to take care of advance booking/flight delays

• Forklift for Heavy Cargo

• Dangerous Goods Shed

Runway

Trichy Airport had two runway in which runway 15/33 was closed which was 4,776 ft (1,456 m) feet long with PCN 15F/B/W/T made of Asphalt and didn't had any ILS aids. The current runway under utilization is 09/27 which is of length 8,136 ft (2,480 m) with PCN 40 F/B/W/T.The runway is laid on Asphalt which also has ILS facilities, and Runway Edge-Lights. The runway 27 has the Category 1 Approach Lights in it. The other landing aids in the runway 27 are PAPI, HIRL, AFL, SAPL.

Expansion

Tiruchirapalli Airport has been on expansion mode since 2004. The runway was extended from 6,000 ft (1,829 m) to 8,136 ft (2,480 m), apron expanded to hold 10 aircraft,fire station upgraded,a new taxiway and integrated passenger terminal were constructed.

The proposed Phase 2 expansion on 510 acres (2.1 km²) by AAI includes extending the runway to 12,500 ft (3,810 m), construction of modern Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, additional building complex and other works.The state government has agreed to provide land free to AAI for the phase 2 expansion.

The airport is one of the non-metro airports selected for 200 crore (US$37.8 million) city side development on public-private partnershipmodel.

Recent Progress

The AAI has sought around 510 acres of Land for the current Expansion, Of the total land sought about 188 acres are dry land, 116 acres wetland, 164 acres Defense land, 40.59 acres wasteland and 5.80 is with Hindu religious and Charitable Trust.

To facilitate fast process on Airport expansion a joint technical advisory committee involving the departments of agriculture, public works department and revenue had been formed chaired by Mr. P.Kumar, Trichy MP. The district administration has formed a special team comprising the Airport Director, Revenue Divisional Officer, Joint Director of Agriculture, officials of Public Works Department, and other agencies concerned to expedite the land acquisition process. According to the Committee the Land acquisition is decided to be carried out in Three Phases. In the First Phase the lands on either side of the existing runway is to be acquired immediately. In the second phase, acquisition of wet and dry land could be taken up, and in the third phase the Defence land could be acquired. Recently it was decided to Acquire the Defense land first, as there is consistent agitation from the Farmers for acquiring Farm lands, later on the remaining lands would be acquired.

Runway Extention

In order felicitate Trichy Airport as an International Airport a minimum runway length of 9,000 feet is required for which the committee has decided to expand the runway to around 10,500 ft (3,200 m) initially from the existing 8,136 ft (2,480 m). Later it would be extended to the planned 12500 feet. Also the district administration has expressed its willingness to pay the market price for the land to be acquired.

Terminal Expansion

Owing to the increased passenger and Aircraft Traffic a proposal was sent for the expansion of the New Terminal Building, in which the terminal is proposed to be extended up to 40 meters on both sides of the building or on the left side alone on the Airport Police Station Premises. Along with this another proposal for installing third aero-bridge was also sent. Once the approval is sought, the work would start based on the Tender Process.

Apron Expansion

Recently tenders have been called by AAI for the extension of Apron and Construction of Ramp Equipment Area at Trichy Airport at an estimated cost of Rs.199.57 lakhs with period of completion of 6 months.^[33] With this expansion it is expected to increase the number of parking bays and there is also an provision for third aero bridge in the Integrated terminal which is also expected to be commissioned once the extension is completed as it is possible only after this.

Cargo Shipments

Trichy airport had export 991 tonnes of cargo from December 2011 to May 31, 2012, the airport had exported 93 tonnes in December and it gradually increased to 285 tonnes in May. At present four airlines Air Asia, Sri Lankan Airlines, Mihin Lanka and Tiger Airways  are handling the cargo movements by its passenger aircraft. Sri Lankan Airlines has maintained its lead as the single largest exporter of cargo from Trichy. The carrier exported a total of 1,429 tonnes for the 2011-12 fiscal.

A cargo facilitation committee including airline operators, customs officers, IATA agents, exporters and importers has been formed and it meets every second Thursday. This is in order to facilitate trade needs of districts such as Trichy, Karur, Namakkal,Pudukottai, Thanjavur for various non-perishable export items, and also serve coastal areas like Nagapattinam, Karaikkal, and Ramanathapuram for marine products also to boost the export of green plantain from the largest banana producing region, textiles from Karur.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
AirAsia	Kuala Lumpur
Air India Express	Chennai, Dubai, Singapore
Jet Airways	Chennai
Mihin Lanka	Colombo
SriLankan Airlines	Colombo
Tiger Airways	Singapore

Pilot training centres

The airport is also home to a Flying Training Academy. VKN Aviation Academy, promoted by the VKN Group,operates out of a 10,000 sq, ft. plot on the airfield with Five Glass cockpit equipped four seater Cessna 172 R Aircraft. The Academy provides training for obtaining two types of licence:

• Commercial Pilot License (CPL)
• Private Pilot License (PPL)

Maintenance

• Air Works has line maintenance facility ^] to conduct transit checks on Airbus A320 type aircraft, which is the second one opened by them next to their Bangalore Facility and it was opened on Behalf of Singapore based Tiger Airways for its aircraft Maintenance at the airport.

• The low cost carrier Air India Express has an engineering stores complex for service and repairs of its aircraft's. It would help quick turn around of the aircraft's. Repair works could also be carried out here. Initially Four licensed engineers and eight technicians are posted to meet the service and repair requirements of the aircraft's. The stores would also have adequate spares and equipment.

Incidents and accidents

• A near-collision between an Indian Airlines aircraft bound for Madurai and Jet Airways flight from Thiruvanathapuram over Tiruchirappalli air space was averted around 1.14 pm on Jun 5, 2010 by timely alertness of pilots of both the planes, together carrying 242 people. On nearing Tiruchirappalli airspace, both the planes almost came close but the IA pilot reduced the altitude and brought the aircraft down while the Jet Airways pilot gained altitude to increase the gap between them averting a mere collision.^[41]

• A major disaster was averted at the Tiruchirappalli airport on 7 November 2011 when an Air India flight carrying 25 people from Chennai to Abu Dhabi was allegedly cleared for landing before a Jet Airways flight bound to Chennai with 65 passengers took off from the same run way. The landing was aborted at the last minute and the collision was averted.

To visit : Trichirapalli Airport