Madurai Airport
Madurai Airport மதுரை வானூர்தி நிலையம் | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
| Serves | Madurai | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 459 ft / 140 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 09°50′04″N 078°05′36″E / 9.83444°N 78.09333°E | ||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2005) | |||||||||||
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Madurai Airport (IATA: IXM, ICAO: VOMD) is a public airport serving Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The airport is located about 13 km (8.1 mi) from the Madurai railway station. It is served by several airlines that link it to major cities in southern and western India.
History
Madurai Airport was established in 1957.
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Indian Airlines | Chennai, Mumbai |
| Jet Airways | Chennai |
| Kingfisher Airlines | Bangalore, Chennai |
| Spice Jet | Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai [begins 27 September] |
Facilities and Expectations
K. Ramalingam, Regional Executive Director (Southern Region), Airports Authority of India, had gone on record, that except for immigration facilities, all other infrastructure was available at the airport and, if required, officials could be diverted from Tiruchirapalli and Thiruvananthapuram. But he made it clear that the request for upgrading should come from the airlines[1]
Development
A series of development and expansion projects costing 
150 crore, tourist potential and mega projects lined up for the southern districts pointed to upgrading of the airport. When this become international airport is still a question mark? Making this as International Airport will serve thousands of people who are travelling abroad.
Phase-I
Work on the upgrading of Madurai airport is in progress. The upgrading was planned phase-wise. Currently, the arrival and departure capacity of the terminal building is restricted to 50 passengers each.
Phase-I work will include expansion of the runway from 5,990 ft (1,826 m) to 7,500 ft (2,286 m), creation of an isolation bay and five parking bays. The cost of this phase is around 22 crore. The contract was awarded to PNCRDS, an Agra-based consortium. This phase was completed by December 2006. Work on construction of a 2-crore fire station within the airport premises is in progress.
Phase-II
The expansion of the terminal building is taken up in phase-II. Construction of new integrated terminal building is in progress. Madurai is one of the 35 non-metro airports under upgradation. The airport has appointed Axis Bank and Vienna airport consortium to study the feasibility of city side development to earn non-aeronautical revenue.
