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Coimbatore Airport's ₹2,200-Crore Expansion Clears NITI Aayog, Cabinet Nod Awaited

SimpliCity News Team · 17 Sept 2026

Coimbatore:.The proposed expansion of Coimbatore International Airport has received approval from NITI Aayog and is awaiting clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Expenditure, Airport Director Mohammed Arif said.

The ₹2,200-crore project will require an additional 627 acres of land and include a new 75,000 sq. m. terminal designed to handle up to 12 million passengers annually. Of the additional land required, 621 acres have already been handed over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), while the remaining six acres, acquired by the district administration, will be handed over soon. With the existing 420 acres, the airport’s total area after expansion will exceed 1,047 acres.

The project is also progressing through the required environmental clearance process. The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) issued the Terms of Reference (ToR) to AAI in July, following which the authority is preparing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for submission.

According to the Coimbatore airport director, around 75% to 80% of the technical clearance requirements have been completed. Once construction begins, the expansion is expected to take about three years to complete.

Meanwhile, work is under way to add around 1,000 sq. m. to the existing terminal, primarily to ease congestion in the domestic security hold area. The work is expected to be completed by December 2026.

The existing terminal, spread across 18,000 sq. m., has a designed annual handling capacity of about 3.63 million passengers and is currently handling nearly 3.5 million passengers a year. Its peak-hour handling capacity is around 1,770 passengers and is expected to increase to about 4,200 after the proposed expansion.

The new 75,000-sq. m. terminal will have an annual passenger-handling capacity of 12 million, significantly increasing the airport’s capacity to handle future passenger traffic.

The airport director also said Akasa Air, which recently operated a few non-scheduled flights from Coimbatore, appeared keen to commence regular operations from the airport.

As part of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s nationwide 24-day Yatri Seva Abhiyan, AAI will undertake passenger-centric activities at the Coimbatore international airport and review its existing facilities and services, he said.

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Coimbatore Airport's ₹2,200-Crore Expansion Clears NITI Aayog, Cabinet Nod Awaited

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