Airport expansion on agenda.

A meeting of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to discuss the second phase of modernisation of the Chennai airport will be held in New Delhi recently.

The discussion follows approval of the proposal by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The EAC had cleared the decks for the airport’s Phase-2 expansion plans in June.

The AAI had made certain amendments in the plan and sought Environmental Clearance (EC) to include a commercial complex within the multi-level car parking facility inside the premises.

As part of the plan, the AAI plans to construct two multi-level car parks (MLCP) on the eastern and western sides of the Metro station. A minimum of 2,237 car parking spaces and an integrated commercial space spread over 3.57 lakh sq. ft. have been proposed. The west block MLCP will have six levels for parking while the east block will have seven. The MLCPs are proposed to be built over an area of 4.25 acres within the airport.

The project proponent informed the EAC that the two MLCPs would be built at a distance of 100 m from the façade line of the airport terminals. Link bridges to the elevated walkway from the car parks were also proposed.

The Phase-2 expansion plan includes construction of a hotel, mall, food and beverage stores apart from the parking blocks. The EAC’s document listed the construction of a 40,000 sq. ft multiplex in the east block MLCP. However, senior airport officials told The Hindu that there are no plans to construct a multiplex in the parking lot currently. “There is a hotel that will come up to provide retiring room facilities for passengers. International passengers who have transit time can use these rooms,” the official said.

THE HINDU