By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : The Kerala Association of Travel Agents (KATA) has alleged that the new international airport terminal here, to be completed next year, would have fewer facilities than the existing one.
“The new international terminal that would be ready towards the end of next year will have far less facilities than the one being used,” KATA president K.V. Muraleedharan told reporters here Sunday.
“The present terminal covers 9,000 square metres while the new one has nearly 25,000 square metres, but the new terminal would have lesser number of counters for immigration and customs, lesser conveyer belts and even the number of aprons is just four as compared to 11 in the present terminal,” alleges Muraleedharan.
“For long we have been saying that there is a coterie working against the interest of the airport here and does not allow any progress. The local MP is the head of the advisory committee of the airport but it has not met at all for several years,” he said.
Speaking to IANS, G. Nagarajan, Thiruvananthapuram airport director, denied the allegations and said: “The new terminal would be in addition to the existing terminal. So actually the facilities in the new terminal would be an extension of the existing ones.”
Muraleedharan said that director’s statement is illogical because the new terminal is on the opposite side of the runway.
“This is nothing but fooling people and more over the two aero bridges are to be built in the new terminal only,” Muraleedharan told IANS.