Coimbatore MP Ganapathi P. Rajkumar raised in the monsoon session on Monday the need for an interim project at Coimbatore International Airport to handle the increasing passenger traffic.
The MP said the Coimbatore airport is the second largest in Tamil Nadu and Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts jointly have the 10th largest GDP in the country. Cargo handling at the airport surged to 12,139 tonnes last financial year, which is 36% more than the previous year.
The airport has the capacity to handle 3.63 million passengers annually and in 2024-2025, the airport handled 3.25 million. It is expected to achieve saturation in the current year and touch 15 million by 2031-2032 when the new terminal building will be ready.
However, a section of the stakeholders in Coimbatore have called for an interim project to manage the increasing passenger traffic till then, he said.
Mr. Rajkumar urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation to also expedite the land acquisition works, take up extension of the runway to 3,810 metres from 2,990 metres, build a new terminal and cargo terminal, and increase the area for parking of vehicles.
Published – July 21, 2025 09:44 pm IST
