'Land Acquisition for Airport Expansion First Priority'.

G Prakash Reddy, the new Airport Director (APD) of the Coimbatore International Airport has said that his first priority would be to clear the bottlenecks for land acquisition process, the delay in which has been stalling expansion and various development works of the airport. A 634-acre land had been approved for the expansion of the airport and construction of a world class terminal but the process of acquisition has been pending since 2010.

'Land acquisition, construction of new state- of-the art terminal and improving passenger facilities will be my top priorities,' Prakash Reddy said during his first meeting with media persons at the director’s chamber at the airport here on Friday. He had assumed office on Thursday.

An Andhra Pradesh based electrical engineering graduate, Reddy has been serving the Airport Authority of India since 1990. 'I have worked in airports in Ranchi, Hyderabad, Gaya,, Vizag, Bhopal and Chandigarh. I have been associated with various construction and expansion works in airports,' he said. During his last tenure as the Joint General Manager (Electrical) in Chandigarh, he was also involved in the construction of a new airport at Mohali. 'I still have some assignments pending at Mohali airport which will be opened very soon. I will return to Coimbatore in the mid of June to take full charge,' he added.

Reddy said, he was aware of the legal hurdles in acquiring certain acres of the land sanctioned for the expansion of airport. 'I will personally visit the land demarcated for airport and will work out a solution,' he said.

Regarding passenger facilities he said, he will try to ensure Wi-fi connection inside the airport within first week of July. He also assured to look into the scope of improvement of other facilities for passengers and do the needful at the earliest. He said, currently the presence of doctors to attend emergency cases in the airport was limited to 7- 8 hours a day and he will take steps to ensure availability of doctors round- the-clock.

Prakash Reddy also spoke about measures to reduce bird hit incidents in the airport that had become a huge safety concern. 'We will discuss with civil engineers and seek low cost options, to cover the drainage line running within the airport. That has been one of the major contributors for bird hit incidents. We will also look into working out new technologies to stop bird hit incidents' Reddy said.

D Paul Manickam, the previous APD would be moving to the AAI headquarters in New Delhi, to take charge as the General Manager (Technical).

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS