THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of enhancing passenger facilities at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport, a new conveyor belt will be installed at the international arrival terminal. The new conveyor belt will be the fourth one to be set up at the international terminal. It is expected to be operational by December. Airport director George Tharakan said that one more conveyor belt was being set up as the existing three were insufficient during peak hours, especially the early hours during which many flights from Gulf countries operated almost simultaneously.
A conveyor belt which is redundant at the Chennai airport is being shifted to Thiruvananthapuram airport. While the cost of a new conveyor belt would be around Rs 2 crore, the shifting and re-installation would cost around '60 lakh, said airport sources. Work on a new aerobridge and parallel taxi track is also in the advanced stages of being commissioned. The civil work of the aerobridge was nearing completion and is expected to be completed by March.
About 70 percent work on the parallel taxi track is also over and it is expected to be commissioned by the first-quarter of next year, said the airport director. Meanwhile, the coming up of one more facility is also congesting the international terminal. Various agencies associated with airport operations including immigration and customs have been demanding more space for quite some time.
