PM Modi inaugurates New integrated terminal building of Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands

New Delhi, 18th July 2023: Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the new integrated terminal building of the Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to the prime minister’s office on Tuesday.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, the civil aviation minister, arrived at the airport and inaugurated a statue of VD Savarkar before touring the facility.

The terminal structure is fashioned like a shell, representing the natural surroundings of the islands. The entire terminal will have 100% natural lighting for 12 hours a day, thanks to roof skylights.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) built the new terminal at a cost of 707.73 crore due to an increase in passenger traffic.

‘Until recently, the current terminal had the capacity to handle 4,000 tourists; the new terminal has increased this number to 11,000, and 10 planes can now be parked on the airport at any given moment,” PM Modi remarked. More aircraft and tourists, he claims, will bring more jobs to the area.

The Prime Minister said, “Port Blair’s new terminal building will increase Ease of Travel, Ease of Doing Business and connectivity.”

He further added, “In the last nine years, the current government has not only corrected the mistakes of previous governments with great sensitivity, but has also devised a new system…For a long time in India, development was only restricted to the big cities due to the selfish politics by some parties, which led to tribal and island regions being deprived of development.”

The new terminal structure, with a total built-up size of 40,837 square metres, will be able to handle 1,200 people during peak hours and roughly 40 lakh passengers yearly.
The three-story structure will include 28 check-in desks, three passenger boarding bridges, and four conveyor belts.