Airport Security Training Institute, lab to come up at Chandigarh's old terminal

An Airport Security Training Institute will be set up at the old Chandigarh airport terminal.

In the Action Taken Report submitted during the Chandigarh Administrator’s Advisory Council meeting on Thursday, the UT Transport Department stated that the old Chandigarh airport terminal is being developed into an Airport Security Training Institute. An Airport Security Lab is also being planned at the terminal site.

According to officials, the old terminal remained largely unused for commercial flights since the opening of the new terminal in 2015 and the government was focusing on its reuse for training rather than returning it to passenger service.

The Civil Aviation Ministry had already clarified that there was no plan to make the old terminal building at the Chandigarh airport operational for passengers.

In reply to a question raised by city MP Manish Tewari during the previous Lok Sabha session, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation had stated that the old terminal building at Chandigarh airport had been repurposed for various functions and there was no proposal to make the old terminal operational for passenger movement.

Tewari had asked whether the government had any plans to make the old terminal operational again and if not, the reasons for allowing the wastage of public resources to continue by keeping the renovated infrastructure idle.

Tewari had also sought the details of total expenditure incurred by the government on reconstructing, renovating or refurbishing the building between 2010 and 2014.

The minister stated that the cumulative expenditure incurred by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on reconstructing, renovating, refurbishing or rebuilding the old terminal between 2010 and 2014 was Rs 43.86 crore.

Tewari further asked whether it was true that the extensively renovated old terminal had been lying virtually abandoned since the inauguration of the new terminal in September 2015, despite having facilities like immigration counters and customs infrastructure. The minister had replied the old terminal building has been repurposed for various uses like housing of communication, navigation, and surveillance facilities; electrical, civil, finance, human resources and other administrative works of the AAI.