subject: Trivandrum International Airport [print this page] Trivandrum International Airport Trivandrum International Airport
Trivandrum International Airport is the first airport of Kerala, situated in Thiruvananthapuram. Located at a distance of approximately 3.7 kilometres from the city centre, the Trivandrum International Airport operates direct flights to various countries around the globe such as Kuwait, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Dammam, Abu Dhabi and numerous others. It is also connected to major Indian cities such as Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Goa and Bangalore by domestic flights. The airport also operates flights to the neighbouring SAARC countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives as well as to the South East Asian countries.
Established in 1932 as part of the Kerala Flying Club under the initiative of Colonel Goda Varma Raja, the airport attained its present international status on 1 January 1991. This has made the Trivandrum International Airport the first of its kind in India, located outside the metropolitan cities.
There are two main terminals in the airport, Terminal 1 that caters solely to domestic flights and Terminal 2 that serves international flights. The Terminal 3 of the airport is currently under construction. The third terminal is being constructed with the objective of catering to the ever-increasing load of international passengers. The new terminal would handle the major international flights and will have the capacity to handle up to 1600 passengers. The terminal, being built by Airports Authority of India (AAI), is expected to provide a major boost to the development of the city's infrastructure, the IT sector as well as its tourism industry in the southern districts. The new terminal at Trivandrum International Airport would be a tubular three-storied building having a floor area of 20,000 sq meters.
It would be fully air-conditioned and would provide wi-fi connectivity to passengers. The terminal will be equipped with all kinds of modern facilities such as escalators, elevators and aerobridges. A Common Users Terminal Equipment (CUTE) would be installed so as to allow passengers to check in at any counter. X-ray machines will be connected to the side of the conveyor belts for faster and easier clearance of baggage. The Terminal 3 is expected to be open to the public by July 2010.
