Work on new terminal takes off

If you take an aerial view of Mumbai airport, you can see that one half is a heart-shaped piece of land. Over the next three years, engineers will raze the structures on this land — and replacing them will be a big, posh complex. Soubhik Mitra reports.

If you take an aerial view of Mumbai airport, you can see that one half is a heart-shaped piece of land. Over the next three years, engineers will raze the structures on this land — and replacing them will be a big, posh complex.

HT Image

And, by the end of 2012, you can collect your boarding pass from this complex — whether you are flying to Jaipur or Johannesburg.

On Friday, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), the GVK-led private consortia modernising the airport, inaugurated the start of work on the integrated terminal that will cater to both international and domestic traffic. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Chief Minister Ashok Chavan were present on the occasion.

“Apart from low-cost carriers, all domestic airlines would operate from the new terminal,” said Sanjay Reddy, managing director, MIAL. “The existing domestic terminals would be used for cargo operations and by budget airlines.”

The redevelopment would be done in three phases.

The first would be completed with the demolition and reconstruction of Terminal 2A.

By 2012-end, the airport will be transformed into a swank, four-level structure with a floor area of 43 lakh sq m, approximately the size of 400 soccer fields.

It will have the capacity to handle four crore passengers a year.