UT to get shorter access to new airport

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 3

There is good news for city residents. The Punjab Government has heeded the UT demand for a shorter access to the new terminal of the Chandigarh international airport that has been readied in Mohali.

The shorter road connectivity with the new terminal will be from Sector 65, Mohali, through Kambali village. It will reduce the distance by at least 4 km from the existing route passing through Aerocity and IT City in Mohali. The total distance of the proposed road between the airport and The Tribune roundabout will be around 7 km.

“It will later be extended to Zirakpur near Dyalpura on the Zirakpur-Patiala highway, addressing the demand of Haryana to have a shorter access from Panchkula. This will enable easy accessibility from all directions. It will be helpful as the airport will also serve the larger northern region, including Himachal Pradesh,” said sources in the Punjab Town and Country Planning Department.

Another demand of the UT for an underpass beneath the existing runway has been turned down.

Chief Administrator of GMADA SK Sinha confirmed that the authority would provide an alternative shorter road to the airport. “It will take another six months to lay the road. A 200-foot-wide main road through Aerocity is already ready,” he said.

The development gains significance in the wake of the expected inauguration of the international terminal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the end of this month as part the BJP government’s completion of one year in office on May 26.

Once fully functional, the AAI plans to shift the operations of domestic flights from the existing domestic building to the new terminal that has been segregated into two parts, domestic and international. The departure facility has been planned on the first floor and the arrival on the ground floor on the pattern of the Delhi international airport.

Sources in the AAI said flights to Dubai by two airlines were expected to start soon from the new international terminal.

Facilities at the airport

The first phase of the terminal, covering 53,000 sq metres, will have a capacity of handling 1,600 passengers at a time and parking space for 500 vehicles. There are 48 check-in counters, six escalators and 14 lifts. Three aero bridges have already been provided and there is arrangement for adding two more. One aero bridge from the existing domestic terminal would be shifted, said an official supervising the engineering works at the site. In all, three terminals will come up.

On the lines of the airport in Delhi, the entry and exit of passengers will be at different levels. The apron area will have a capacity for 10 aircraft. The AAI officials said murals and paintings that reflect the culture of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh had been fixed in the passenger circulation area. An artist had been hired for the purpose.”