Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the new integrated terminal building (NITB) of the Veer Savarkar International Airport at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Tuesday, officials said.
#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the New Integrated Terminal Building of Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair, via video conferencing. pic.twitter.com/UXKLEk7iaV
— ANI (@ANI) July 18, 2023
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who reached the airport, unveiled a statue of V D Savarkar on the premises and took a tour of the establishment.
He was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Road, Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation, General (Retd.) V K Singh.
The building is shaped like a shell, depicting the natural environs of the islands.
#WATCH | “Under PM Modi’s leadership the country’s aircraft fleet has been expanded from 400 to 700…The Greenfield airport has also expanded to fourteen airports…Within the next three-four years the number of airports would cross 200…,” says Civil Aviation Minister… pic.twitter.com/pRAlOdrjbT
— ANI (@ANI) July 18, 2023
The entire terminal will have 100 per cent natural lighting for 12 hours a day which will be achieved through skylights on the roof, they said.
Due to a surge in passenger traffic, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) constructed the NITB at an estimated cost of Rs707.73 crores.
With a total built-up area of 40,837 sq metres, the new terminal building will have the capacity to handle 1,200 passengers during peak hours and around 40 lakh passengers annually.
The three-storey building will be equipped with 28 check-in counters, three passenger boarding bridges and four conveyor belts.