Tiruchirappalli International Airport

The first known history of commercial flight landing at the airport dates back to 23 December 1936 when TATA Sons, Ltd. operated an Indo-Cylone special airmail service between Madras and Colombo via Trichinopoly carrying Christmas mails connecting their regular airmail service between Karachi and Madras via Bhuj, Ahmedabad, Bombay, Hyderabad. The Special "Goodwill Flight" was operated by Miles M4A Merlin aircraft registered as VT-AHC and piloted by H. D. Barucha, the return flight to Madras via Trichinopoly occurred the next day.[8] This flight was a precursor for the extension of their regular Karachi-Madras Airmail service until Colombo via Trichinopoly, which began operations on 28 February 1938.[9] There are evidences of Weekly Air Mail service in operation on the Bombay-Goa-Cannore-Trivandrum-Tirchinopoly route during early 1937 which later made connection to the Karachi-Colombo Air Mail service at Trichinopoly.[10]

During World War II, RAF Station Kajamalai was established at the airfield and used by the British Royal Air Force.[11] The base started operating during May 1942 and until the beginning of 1944 the base was primarily used for repair and maintenance of warplanes which on landing were taken to a workshop at Ponmalai 2 km away. The airfield gained prominence during 1944 when planes were brought for calibration and other training activities also ferry flights started using the airfield. During second half of 1944, three squadrons were operating out of the airfield. At the end of war the airfield served as Staging Post and Personnel Transit Centre due to its prominent location.

Various units also located at the airfield during and after the war

• Nos 121, 101, and 138 Repair & Salvage Units (1942-1945)[13]
• Air Stores/Equipment Park (1942-1945)
• No. 2 Civil Maintenance Unit (1943-1946)
• Headquarters for No. 173 Wing RAF (25 Nov 1942 - 19 October 1943) and No. 171 Wing RAF (1 August-8 November 1943)
• No. 1580 Calibration Flight (February 1944 - October 1945); No. 1583 Calibration Flight (to 15 November 1945)[13]
• Ferry flights (April 1944 - February 1946)
• No. 156 Staging Post (March 1945 - April 1946)
• No. 60 Personnel Transit Centre (September 1945 - November 1945)

When Ceylon government asked permission to operate flights between Colombo and Trichinopoly in 1947,[16] Indian government improved the aerodrome for full functioning and allowed flight operations to Colombo in 1948.[17] On 3 December 1948, Air Ceylon inaugurated a regular weekly commercial service between Colombo and Karachi, using a Dakota flight via Tiruchirappalli and Bombay.[18] During 1950, Air Ceylon operated dedicated daily flights from Colombo to Tiruchirappalli via Jaffna.[19] During 1952, Air India operated daily flights on Bombay-Madras-Tiruchirappalli-Colombo route,[20] which was later transferred to Indian airlines operated on Madras-Tiruchirappalli-Colombo route.

Beginning in the late 1950s, Tiruchirappalli was connected by domestic service with Madras, Madurai, Cochin and Trivandrum by Indian Airlines at different routings during different periods of time. During the 1990s, Indian Airlines started connecting Trichy with Middle Eastern cities like Kuwait and Sharjah. During the 2000s, it also connected Trichy with Ras-Al-Khaimah and Fujairah. Indian Airlines operated up until it was merged with Air India. Starting from late 2000, Trichy was connected with South East Asian destinations like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore by foreign airlines. Air India Express also started connecting Trichy with both Middle East and South East Asian destinations.

The airport was categorised as a customs airport until 4 October 2012, when it was given international status by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.[21][22]

The active integrated passenger terminal built at cost of ₹80 crore (US$10 million) was inaugurated on 21 February 2009 and started operations from 1 June 2009.[23] The two-story terminal has a floor area of 11,777 m² (126,770 sq ft) with handling capacity of 0.49 million passengers per annum and peak hour capacity of 470 passengers. Some of the features of the current active terminal include:[24]

• 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)
• 1 Baggage Assistance Counter
• 1 Health Officer Counter
• 5 X-ray Scanners for Baggage (3 for registered baggages and 2 for hand baggages)[25]
• 4 Security Check Units
• 210 CISF Strength
• Total aircraft stands = 7
  • 3 for code D aircraft
  • 4 for code C aircraft
• 3 Aerobridges
• Parking Space for 300 vehicles

The integrated terminal has two lounges, VIP lounge managed by AAI and commercial important persons (CIP) lounge also managed by AAI.

Cargo Terminal

The old terminal was converted into an international cargo complex at a cost of ₹ 10 million.[26] The 4,000 m² (43,000 sq ft) cargo complex was commissioned for operations on 21 November 2011. The export wing occupies 2,193 m² (23,610 sq ft) and 1,750 m² (18,800 sq ft) for the import wing.[27] The Central Board of Excise and Customs had earlier approved and notified the airport as an air cargo complex.[28] The one-time holding capacity of the cargo terminal is 250 metric tonnes[29] The airport is the gateway for foreign export, as there is no easy way for export from the central region of Tamil Nadu.[30]

On 12 July 2013, the Ministry of Finance has notified the airport for international courier cargo movement. But the facilities for the same are yet to be set up by AAI.[31]

On 11 October 2013, a five-metric ton capacity cold storage facility was inaugurated at the cargo section. This facility will be helpful during flight delay, flight cancellation, advance booking and holiday bookings of cargo.[32]

On 21 April 2017, a dedicated import cargo facility has been created on 190 m² (2,000 sq ft) at a cost of ₹20 lakh (US$25,000) to encourage more imports through the airport. At present, the imports are very minimal as compared with the exports.

On 1 July 2017, EDI facility has been introduced at the cargo terminal. With this facility, speedy and electronic clearance of freight is assured eliminating the manual process, making the export process more simple. This is expected to pave way for additional commodities being exported from the airport.[33]

The airport's older runway, 15/33, was closed as part of early development, and is now used as an alternate taxiway to the apron. The re-carpeting work on the active runway 09/27 has been completed during February 2020 to July 2021, after 10 years, at a cost of ₹20 crore (US$2.5 million). [35][36]

View of Apron

In addition to the above apron in the active passenger terminal, a new apron with space to accommodate 11 aircraft has been created to serve the new terminal, under construction.[36]

There are five taxiways in the airport, designated as A, B, C, D and J. A parallel taxiway is constructed and will become active soon.[37] Along with this new taxiways E1, E2, E3, F and H are being created, making it a total of 10 taxiways in operation.

ATC Tower in old terminal building

Currently, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) is handled from the old terminal building. The AAI along with the new terminal project has proposed to construct a new Technical Block cum Air Traffic Control Tower at the airport, along with a new terminal,[38] The initial proposal was to construct a 42.5 meters tall tower, which is now under proposal to be increased to 75 meters height,[39] and it finalised to be 46 meters tall, including the top antenna. Tenders for the construction of the new ATC tower and technical block was floated at an cost of 92 crores in July 2022, and is expected to be completed by June 2023.[40]

The Madras Flying Club started in 1929 in Madras Presidency during British Raj. Operated previously in Chennai Airport premises, it had to shift their operations to Tiruchirapalli due to congestion and operational difficulties.[41][42] The academy began its operations at the airport on 10 January 2020, where they have placed 6 training aircraft at the hangar, which was previously been used by V.K.N. Aviation Academy. They also have created three computer-aided smart classrooms facility in the airport. The Government of Tamil Nadu has allocated two acres (0.81 ha) of its land adjoining to the airport for the club to setup its operational infrastructure.[43]

The new integrated passenger terminal

Aerial view of the new integrated passenger terminal

Due to the consistent increase in the air traffic, the current integrated passenger terminal building with a total floor area of 11,777 m² (126,770 sq ft) to handle 470 peak-hour passengers has become insufficient. Initially, it was planned to expand the existing integrated terminal by 180 meters on both sides, by constructing an additional 17,920 m² (192,900 sq ft) area to increase the passenger handling capacity to 1,075 peak-hour passengers,[58] but later, the Ministry of Civil Aviation initiated the construction of a new two-level passenger terminal at a cost of ₹951 crore (equivalent to ₹11 billion or US$140 million in 2023).

The new terminal building will have an area of 75,000 m² (810,000 sq ft), with a capacity to handle 3.43 million passengers per year and with a peak-hour handling capacity of 2,200 international and 500 domestic passengers. It will be constructed as per Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Four Star standards. The terminal is being constructed on the existing airport land available on the south side, for which a new four-lane elevated access road is being created from the National Highway 336 passing beside the airport.[59] AAI has engaged a French company, EGIS, in partnership with the English architectural firm Pascall+Watson, as the project managers has completed the design and plan for construction by March 2018.[60] The tender for construction has been awarded to ITD Cementation India Pvt. Ltd. by August 2018, the construction works were expected to begin by November 2018 and finish by September 2021.[61] But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which faced delays in work, the terminal is now expected to be completed by April 2023.[62]

The expansion project includes the following:

• Two-level integrated terminal building
• Parking for 750 cars, 250 taxis, and 10 buses
• New Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower and a technical block
• New apron to accommodate 5 MARS Stands (5 E Code or 10 C Code aircraft)
• Upgrade of the fire station to Category 10
• Expansion of the cargo terminal
• Airport systems
• City-side development
• Rehabilitation of the AAI residential colony and CISF accommodation, consisting of 118 units

The cost of the project is estimated at ₹ 951 crore (US$120 million).[63]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the new integrated passenger terminal at the airport, through video conferencing from Tiruppur on 10 February 2019.[64]

The current runway at the airport is one of the shortest runways among all the international airports in India. The original runway was planned to be expanded in two phases. Phase 1 is completed, and as part of the Phase 2 expansion, the runway is planned to be extended to 3,200 m (10,500 ft) initially from the existing 2,480 metres (8,140 ft), and later to 3,800 m (12,500 ft). AAI has sought land to the Government of Tamil Nadu and once land sought for the expansion is available, the extension would take place. The district administration has expressed its willingness to pay the market price for the land to be acquired. But the extension of the runway is pending for a long time due to delays in acquiring land.

The AAI has sought around 510 acres (210 ha) of land for the current expansion. Of the total about 188 acres (76 ha) are dry land, 116 acres (47 ha) wetland, 164.68 acres (66.64 ha) defense land, 40.59 acres (16.43 ha) wasteland and 5.8 acres (2.3 ha) is with Hindu Religious and Charitable Trust. To facilitate fast process on the airport expansion, a joint technical advisory committee involving the departments of agriculture, public works department and revenue had been formed during 2012, which is chaired by Member of Tiruchirapalli Parliamentary Constituency. Until 2019, P. Kumar chaired the meetings and currently its being chaired by Su. Thirunavukkarasar. 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.[65]

In the joint advisory committee meeting on 17 June 2017, it was announced that the Government of Tamil Nadu has given administrative sanction for acquisition of land required for the proposed expansion of the runway. The state government has provided administrative sanction to acquire nearly 345.62 acres (139.87 ha) in May 2017, including dry and wet lands, besides 40 acres (16 ha) of government land. It has been decided to form a team to work on the exercise of land acquisition and payment of compensation.[66] During December 2017, the Deputy Director General of Defence Estates has provided in principle approval for providing 337.7 acres (136.7 ha) of land to the AAI, in lieu of land of “equal value” from the state government. The District Administration is also in process of acquiring residential buildings. With this, the airport expansion has gained momentum.[67]

The AAI has expanded the existing apron with the construction of a third aerobridge and ramp equipment area, measuring 2,800 sq.m. at an estimated cost of ₹2.25 crore (US$280,000), which became active in January 2019.[68][37] The Ministry of Civil Aviation initiated the plan to expand the apron to provide two more aircraft bays, increasing the bay count to nine.[58] Work on additional bays was started in February 2020 at an estimated cost of ₹1.00 crore (US$130,000).[35]

In addition to this, as part of the construction of the new terminal, an additional apron is being constructed of 15,580 sq.m. size for parking up to 11 code C aircraft type, along with an isolation bay and GSE area including taxi tracks, which was tendered in November 2017, and work was started in August 2018.[69] This expansion project will be completed by December 2023.