Trivandrum International Airport

History

The airport was established in 1932 as part of the Royal Flying Club under the initiative of Colonel Goda Varma Raja, Consort Prince of HRH Queen Karthika Thirunal of Travancore Kingdom. Col G.V Raja, a trained pilot, felt the need an airport to accommodate Travancore in the aviation map of India and requested to Travancore Durbar to initiate the process for establishing an aerodrome. A detailed report was made and presented to the King by Consort Prince in this regard.

In 1935, on royal patronage of H.H Maharaja Chithira Thirunal, Tata Airlines made its maiden flight to the airport using DH.83 Fox Moth aircraft under command of India's first pilot Nevill Vintcent carrying Jamshed Navoroji, a Tata company official, and Kanchi Dwarakadas, commercial agent of Travancore in Karachi with a special mail from Viceroy of British India, Lord Willingdon wishing birthday greetings to the Maharaja.

The first flight took off on 1 November 1935, carrying mails of Royal Anchal (Travancore Post) to Bombay. In 1938, the Royal Government of Travancore acquired a Dakota as Maharaja's private aircraft and placed the first squadron of Royal Indian Air Force (Travancore) for protection of state from aerial attacks. After Independence, the airstrip was used for domestic flights with construction of a domestic terminal: T1.

International operations were initiated by Air India to cities in the Arabian Peninsula in the late 1970s using Boeing 707. By early 80s, the then Indian Airlines started service to Colombo, followed by service to Male. Later, SriLankan Airlines (then Air Lanka) and Air Maldives (now Maldivian started operations. Followed by Indian Airlines, that started a service to Sharjah. On 1 January 1991, TIA was upgraded to an international airport, making it the fifth international airport of India after Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai & Kolkata.

On 1 March 2011, the first flight operated from the new international terminal. IX 536 (Air India Express) from Sharjah marked the first arrival. Air India Express operated the first departure to Dubai from this new terminal.

Terminals

There are two terminals. Terminal 1 is for domestic (except Air India and Jet Airways) and Terminal 2 for international flights and all domestic flights of Air India. The domestic terminal has an area of 9,200 m² (99,000 sq ft) and can handle 400 passengers at a time. The Terminal 3 (NITB: New International Terminal Building) and the International Terminal can handle 1,600 passengers at a time.

The international terminal ground operations are handled by Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt. Ltd. and Bhadra International India Pvt. Ltd. It is fully air-conditioned with wi-fi facility. The terminal features spacious lounges, natural lighting with extensive use of glass roofing and better conveyance facilities for passengers. It has three baggage carousels and elaborate immigration/customs facilities. Flemingo, India's first privately owned duty-free operator is managing the duty-free shop at the international terminal.

The domestic terminal has basic amenities including cafés, a beer and wine bar, a book-seller, free local calls, phone-recharging points.

Facilities

The newly built Terminal 2 has three additional jetways and parking bays to accommodate 8 aircraft. The terminal is built opposite to the current terminal across the runway and is closer to the city side. The terminal, constructed by the AAI and designed by the UK firm, Pascall+Watson architects, is expected to provide impetus to the development of the IT sector and the tourism industry in the southern districts of Kerala.

The international terminal covers an area of 35,000 m² (380,000 sq ft). It is able to handle the passengers of three Airbus A340s and one Boeing 747 aircraft simultaneously (roughly 1500 passengers). The annual handling capacity of the terminal will be 1.8 million.

The check-in area has a floor area of 950 m² (10,200 sq ft) and the arrival area 600 m² (6,500 sq ft). To enable the passengers to check in at any counter, a Common Users Terminal Equipment (CUTE) is installed. X-ray machines are attached to the side of the conveyor belts for faster clearance of baggage.

The entrance to the terminal is from the Chaka-Eenchakkal road. A bridge has been built across the Parvathy Puthanar canal to link the new terminal to the Kazhakuttam-Inchivila NH (National Highway) 47 bypass. The new terminal has a car park area that can accommodate about 600 cars.

There is a pre paid taxi service counter and foreign exchange(Thomas Cook India) counter on arrivals area.

There are plans to build a parallel taxiway, an isolation bay, an aerobridge and an apron in the international terminal, a turning pad, and expand the security area in the domestic terminal. It costs Rs.130 crore.

Trivandrum airport was included in Ministry of civil aviation strategic plan for 2010-2015 to upgrade as Category-A airport by developing to aerodrome CODE 4E/4F, construct parallel runway with taxiways alongside both runways and so forth.

Expansion

Further expansion of the airport has been planned with the AAI demanding 82 acres for the construction of a new domestic terminal and other related facilities for Trivandrum airport. The state government has agreed to acquire 18 acres for the construction of the Domestic terminal. The AAI is planning to construct a new terminal of around 40,000 square metres, which would spruce up the city airport to a 72,500-square-metre integrated terminal. Paper works, including drawing of plans, for the new terminal building have already begun at the AAI headquarters. The plan is to complete the construction of the new terminal within 18 to 24 months after the state government hands over the land to the Airport Authority of India. The AAI plans to have a three-storey structure attached to the existing terminal. The elevation of new terminal would be identical to the existing terminal building.

Cargo operations

The cargo activities at the Trivandrum Airport are carried out through the Kerala State Industrial Enterprises (KSIE), a government of Kerala undertaking). The cargo warehouse is on the airport premises. It has a capacity to import 21000 MT and export 27000 MT per annum. In 2010-11 (up to December 2010), the airport achieved MT of import cargo and MT of export cargo. The KSIE is developing a satellite cargo import facility on a temporary basis at the NITB terminal for perishable cargo handling till their final master plan is implemented for developing a huge cargo warehouse on 15 acres of land adjoining the NITB. Major cargo jets such as Emirates has begun flights to Trivandrum International Airport (TIA) .

Other operations

In addition to Civil operations,Trivandrum airport also caters to IAF and Coast Guard for their strategical operations.IAF have an exclusive apron to handle all their operations.Trivandrum airport also caters for Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology.The academy has it own hanger facility at the airport.The hanger facility can accommodate 10 trainer aircraft .

Air traffic control

The air traffic control (ATC) tower is 18 m (59 ft) tall.There are plans to build a new 43m tall ATC tower for Trivandrum airport near the new international terminal. The airport has an instrument landing system (ILS) using distance measuring equipment (DME). The Instrument Landing System allows aircraft landings in reduced visibility.

Runway

Trivandrum International Airport has one runway, 32/14, 3,400 m × 45 m (11,155 ft × 148 ft), equipped to operate any type of aircraft in commercial service other than Airbus A380.It has a 1,880 m (6,170 ft) long parallel taxiway.

MRO facility

Trivandrum International Airport hosts Air India's Narrow body Maintenance, repair and overhaul unit — MRO consisting of twin hangars for servicing Boeing 737 type aircraft, servicing mostly Air India Express aircraft..The Maintenance Repair Overhaul is set up on 6.07 hectares of land at a cost of Rs. 110 crores it was commissioned on December 16, 2011.. The maintenance of two aircraft can be simultaneously done at the two hangars present at the MRO. The facility is state-of-the-art with 5,000SF of workshop, 10,000SF apron, electrically operated and vertically moving hangar door system, warehouse and office space. The Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility of Air India Charters Limited (AICL) at Trivandrum International Airport was given permission to carry out the crucial ‘C’ checks of their Boeing 737-800 fleet.

Security

Trivandrum International Airport is listed among the 12 major airports of India. Its safety and security is handled by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security through the Central Industrial Security Force#Airport security (CISF). In the past, the airport security was under the control of airport police (under the state government). However, following the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 in 1999, the airport security was handed over to CISF. Trivandrum airport also has advanced security equipment including X-RAY Baggage inspection (X-BIS), Explosive Trace Detection System (ETDS) and provision of an In-Line Baggage Screening system; at the NITB, state-of-the-art Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), Flight information Display System (fids) and Public Address (PA) systems, as well as an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) for flight information, are there for passengers' convenience.

Air traffic management

Trivandrum airport is one of the major airports in south India. It plays a major role in the world aviation map, connecting and controlling about nine international air-routes and eight domestic air-routes and provides approach control service to eight major and minor aerodomes. A Terminal Control Area (TMA) is established with a 250 nm lateral limit around Trivandrum airport and a vertical limit of ground to 46,000 ft. The ATC also provides approach control for arriving and departing traffic and is also an Area Control Centre for over flying aircraft and traffic operating from adjacent airports like Cochin, Calicut, Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy. Trivandrum airport is also a major training centre for ATCOs at the induction level as junior executives.The airport on average handles 350 aircraft movement per day including over flying aircraft.

Road

Trivandrum international airport is connected to National Highway 66 (NH 66) which connects the airport to the city and other parts.The National Highway 66 links the airport with the upcoming Vizhinjam International Seaport .

Buses

Buses connect Trivandrum airport to different parts of the city. Services are mainly operated by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation which connects the airport to East Fort, Kochi, Kollam etc.

Rail

The nearest railway station is Kochuveli railway station which is about 5 km away and Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station is about 5.5 km. These railway stations are well connected with different regions of the country.

Taxis

Pre-paid taxi services are available from both the terminals of Trivandrum airport.