Rs 1,435-crore makeover for Jaipur airport

JAIPUR: Air travellers may have to put up with some inconveniences as the city airport has set in motion plans for a largescale upgradation of the existing facility.

In a span of four years, the 18,000 sq mt

Jaipur International Airport

(

JIA

) will be upgraded to a state-of-the-art international airport, spread over 1.25 lakh sq mt, by a German company at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore. The existing Terminal II will also be expanded simultaneously at a cost of Rs 35 crore.

“We had invited bids from global firms and a German company has been awarded the project monitoring & consultancy (PMC) for the new terminal which is going to be spread over 1.25 lakh sq mt, nearly eight to nine times bigger than the existing one. The new facility will be in line with international standards and the

Airport Authority of India

(

AAI

) will spend Rs 1,400 crore for the same,” said airport director Jaideep Singh Balhara.

While the preparatory work will begin next month, the actual work on the new terminal will commence only in December, with a three-year timeline for completion. The new terminal will have two arrival and departure levels dedicated to international and domestic passengers.

In the meantime, for the convenience of passengers, expected to touch 4.6 million by the year-end, the existing Terminal II will be expanded simultaneously at a cost of Rs 35 crore. “The arrival lounge will be equipped with two more conveyor baggage carousels along with one in departure. This would be completed by December. Besides, a parallel taxi track has also been planned for which we have 65% land. But we require 15 more acres towards the north to improve the runway efficiency. We have requested the state government for the same,” said Balhara.

Meanwhile, Terminal I of the

Jaipur airport

will be converted to cater only for international arrivals/departures after December 2018. “This would be an interim arrangement for three years till the JIA has an integrated facility, clubbing both the terminals,” said Bulhara.

Flights rescheduled from Mar 1

The JIA runway is going to be shut for upgradation from March 1 to 24 from 10.00 hrs to 18.00 hrs and from March 24 to May 31 from 22.00 hrs to 06.00 hrs. The airlines have rescheduled their flights accordingly as this was intimated three months before.

At the moment, 67 domestic and international flights operate only from Terminal II daily, which has led to congestion. Out of this, nine are international.

Solar plant operational

Recently, the JIA inaugurated 1.8 MW solar plant, which caters to 60-70% of the airport’s energy requirement. It will also save the airport almost Rs 2 crore per annum.


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