Shirdi airport to get new terminal building, apron
The airport apron area is where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refuelled, boarded, or maintained. However, the apron is not usually open to the general public, and access may require a permit
Pune: Considering significant growth in passenger traffic, the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC), which manages Shirdi airport, has begun construction on a new apron at the airfield. The land marking and testing to upgrade the current facilities is currently underway.
Once completed, Shirdi airport’s new apron area is expected to be larger and accommodate more aircraft. The current infrastructure dimensions are 225 M x 105 M, which can accommodate three ATR72 and one A320 aircraft.
The MADC, which manages Shirdi airport, has not stated how many aircraft will be parked.
Deepak Kapoor, vice-chairman and managing director of MADC, tweeted, “New Apron marking and testing work in progress at Shirdi Airport.”
“Once the apron area is completely ready, we will have an idea of how many aircraft will be occupied,” said a MADC official, requesting anonymity.
The airport apron area is where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refuelled, boarded, or maintained. However, the apron is not usually open to the general public, and access may require a permit.
The designated areas for aircraft parking on an apron are known as aircraft stands.
Apart from the apron, the MADC has issued a tender to build a new integrated passenger terminal building at Shirdi. The firm that acquires rights, will be given a two-year deadline to construct the terminal, which is expected to cost ₹527 crores.
The current terminal can only accommodate 300 passengers at once. The airport, which opened in October 2017, is the fourth busiest facility in the state after Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.
Shirdi airport is currently connected to Tirupati, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Delhi. In a month, the airport serves 64,000 passengers.
When the aerodrome control tower does not have control over the apron, its use may be governed by an apron management service (apron control or apron advisory) to ensure user coordination.
Apron control assigns aircraft parking stands (gates) and relays this information to the tower or ground control, as well as airline handling agents. It also permits vehicle movements in areas where they may interfere with taxiing aircraft, such as outside of painted road markings.