Tuticorin Airport is a domestic airport located from

Thoothukudi Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, serving the districts of

Thoothukkudi Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

Tenkasi Tenkasi is a town and headquarters of the Tenkasi district in Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Being one of the most significant spiritual and cultural places in South Tamilnadu,Tenkasi houses The Kutraleeshwarar temple (Chitra Sabha), one of the ...

, and

Kanniyakumari Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...

in southern Tamil Nadu. It is west of the city centre on Thoothukkudi-Tirunelveli NH-7A. It was inaugurated by the former

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with th ...

J. Jayalalithaa on 30 April 1992 and the former

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

for

Civil Aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

and Tourism of the Republic of India M. O. H. Farook presided with her. The airport was ISO 9001:2015 quality certified on 13 April 2018. It is the fifth busiest airport in Tamil Nadu after

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

and

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

Structure

The airport has one asphalt runway, oriented 10/28, long, and wide. The taxiway is wide and long. The airport has two parking bays. Stand 1 is to the east of the apron, and Stand 2 is to the west. Stand No. 1 for an ATR 72 or lesser type of ACFT, and stand No. 2 for a Bombardier Q400 or lesser type of ACFT. while its terminal building can handle 120 passengers during peak hours. Navigational aids at Tuticorin airport include NDB TU, PAPI lights, and an aerodrome beacon. The DGCA has granted it a higher category license, moving it from VFR to

IFR In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...

on 30 June 2020. Tuticorin Airport is capable of all-weather day and night operations at low visibility of less than . The air traffic control tower is located to the north of Apron and has Aerodrome Control (ADC), Surface Movement Control (SMC), and Approach Control (APP) units. The air traffic services unit is provided with meteorological information.

Expansion

A master plan for upgrading the airport in phases had been prepared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

has handed over 600.97 acres of land free from encumbrance to the

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...

on 31 December 2018 for the expansion. An additional 110 acres of land have been set aside for the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

and the

Indian Coastguard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. The Indian Coast Guard was formally est ...

. As part of the 96.77 crore expansion project initiated on 25 July 2020 the following activities are planned: * Expansion of runway width from to handle Code-4C aircraft. * Expansion of the apron to accommodate five A321 aircraft measuring in dimension. * New isolation bay for Code C aircraft and a taxi link way. Night landing facilities were established at the airport on 29 June 2020, and their first operation began on 3 July 2020 at 7 p.m., via

IndiGo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

Airlines. In September 2020, the Airports Authority of India stated that it is initiating a project that includes widening the runway, constructing a new air traffic control tower, and constructing a new terminal building at a total cost of 381 crore. It will be operational by March 2023. The new terminal building will cover an area of 13,530 square metres and be able to handle 600 passengers during peak hours. A new ATC tower, a cum technical block, a fire station, an isolation bay, aprons, and five aircraft parking bays for A-320 type aircraft are also part of the project.

Airlines and destinations

Naming the airport

* After the death of former president of the Republic of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, there have been requests to name the airport ''"Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam International Airport"'' after the approval of international status by the

Union Cabinet The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

. * An Indian actor turned politician and former

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

R. Sarathkumar's

All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi The All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (; AISMK) is a Tamil political party in India. The party's founder and president is actor R. Sarathkumar. Kumar was a part of DMK in his early political career and then joined All India Anna Dravida Munne ...

made a request to name the airport after the former

chief minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with th ...

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

, as ''"Kamarajar International Airport."''

References

External links

Official site at the Airports Authority of India
{{Transport in Tamil Nadu Airports in Tamil Nadu Transport in Thoothukudi Airports established in 1992 1992 establishments in Tamil Nadu