Tuticorin Airport

Tuticorin Airport
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Error creating thumbnail: File missing
IATA: TCR ICAO: VOTK
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Ministry of Civil Aviation
Operator	Airports Authority of India
Serves	Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari
Location	Airport Road, Vagaikulam, Thoothukudi - 628103, Tamil Nadu, India
Opened	30 April 1992 (1992-04-30)
Time zone	Indian Standard Time (+5:30)
Elevation AMSL	39 m / 129 ft
Coordinates	08°43′27″N 078°01′33″E
Website	www.aai.aero/en/airports/tuticorin
Map
VOTK Tuticorin Airport VOTK VOTK (India)
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 10/28 1,351 4,435 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2018 - December 2018)
Passengers movements 126,629( 74.3%) Aircraft movements 2,126( 100.9%) Cargo tonnage 29( 123.1%)
Source: Airports Authority of India

Tuticorin Airport (IATA: TCR, ICAO: VOTK) is a domestic airport located 16.9 km (10.5 mi) from Thoothukkudi, Tamil Nadu, India serving the districts of Thoothukkudi, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari in southern Tamil Nadu. It is 15.6 km (9.7 mi) west of the city centre on Thoothukkudi-Tirunelveli NH-7A. It was inaugurated by former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa on 30 April 1992 and the former Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Tourism 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, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli and Madurai.

Structure

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Passengers boarding waiting aircraft at the runway of Tuticorin airport

The airport has one asphalt runway, oriented 10/28, 1,349 metres (4,426 ft) long and 45 metres (148 ft) wide. The taxiway is 15 m (49 ft) wide and 225 m (738 ft) in length. The airport has two parking bays. Stand Number 1 to the east and Stand Number 2 to the west of apron. Stand Number 1 for ATR 72 or lesser type of ACFT and stand Number 2 for 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. It has been granted higher category license from existing VFR to IFR by DGCA on 30 June 2020. Tuticorin Airport is capable of all weather - day & night operations at low visibility less than 5 km (3.1 mi). The Air Traffic Control Tower is located to North of Apron and is having 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 has handed over 600.97 acres of land free from encumbrance to the Airports Authority of India on 31 December 2018 for the expansion. An additional 110 acres of land has been set aside for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Coastguard. As part of the 96.77 crore expansion project initiated on 25 July 2020 the following activities are planned.

• Expansion of runway width from 30 to 45 m (98 to 148 ft) to handle Code-4C aircraft.
• Expansion of the apron to accommodate five A321 aircraft measuring 191 m × 89 m (627 ft × 292 ft) in dimension.
• New isolation bay to handle Code C aircraft and a taxi link way of 244.4 m × 30 m (802 ft × 98 ft).

On 29 June 2020, the night landing facilities have been established at the airport and it commenced its first operation on 3 July 2020 to Chennai via IndiGo airlines at 7pm.

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

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
IndiGo	Bengaluru, Chennai

Naming the airport

• After the death of former president of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, there have been requests made to name the airport as "Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam International Airport" after the approval of international status to the airport by Union Cabinet.
• Indian actor turned politician R. Sarathkumar's All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi made a request to name the airport after the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu K. Kamaraj as "Kamarajar International Airport".

External links

• Official site at the Airports Authority of India