Tirupati Airport

Tirupati Airport
IATA: TIR ICAO: VOTP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	Airports Authority of India
Serves	Tirupati
Location	Renigunta, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
Opened	1971;52 years ago (1971)
Focus city for	IndiGo SpiceJet
Elevation  AMSL	107 m / 350 ft
Coordinates	13°38′16″N079°32′50″E / 13.63778°N 79.54722°E / 13.63778; 79.54722
Website	Tirupati Airport
Map
TIR Show map of Andhra Pradesh TIR Show map of India
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 08/26 2,286 7,500 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2022 - March 2023)
Passengers 919,267 ( 47.5%) Aircraft movements 10,720 ( 31.4%) Cargo tonnage 90 ( 8.4%)
Source: AAI [1] [2] [3]

Tirupati Airport( IATA : TIR, ICAO : VOTP) ^[4] is a domestic airport serving Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. It is situated in Renigunta, a suburb of Tirupati. ^{[5] [6] [7]} It is 2.8 km (1.7 mi) away from National Highway 71 (previously NH-205), ^[8] 16 km (9.9 mi) from Tirupati and 39 km (24 mi) from Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala.

History

Airport sign board

The airport was commissioned in 1971. ^[8] In 1993, the then Prime Minister of India, P. V. Narasimha Rao, laid the foundation stone for a new terminal building, runway expansion and an Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower at a cost of ₹110 million (US$1.4 million). The upgraded airport was opened for passenger traffic in 1999 by the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The airport was declared an international airport by the Government of India in June 2017. ^[9] In order to meet the demands of the anticipated international traffic and international chartered flights, AAI took up expansion of the airport to make it suitable for Code-E type of aircraft. ^[8] The then Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu, laid the foundation stone for the project on 20 February 2019. ^[10] Upgrading the airport to Code E would also enable the airport to serve as a diversion airport for the two neighbouring metropolitan international airports of Bengaluru and Chennai, in case of emergencies. The existing runway is being expanded to 3,810 m (12,500 ft). A new apron to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft is built and operational. ^[11]

Facilities

Terminal

A new integrated terminal referred to as Garuda Terminal was constructed adjacent to the existing domestic terminal in an area of 16,500 square metres (178,000 sq ft) at a cost of ₹1.75 billion (US$22 million). It can handle 500 domestic and 200 international passengers at a time. ^[12] The foundation stone was laid in October 2010 by Manmohan Singh, then Prime Minister of India. ^{[13] [14]} Construction began in 2012, ^[15] and the terminal was inaugurated on 22 October 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ^[16] The new terminal has 18 check-in-counters, four immigration counters, four baggage conveyors for arrival and one for departure, three baggage claim carousels, two VIP lounges, and parking area for 250 cars.

Runway

The airport has one runway numbered 8/26 which is 2,286 m (7,500 ft). Extension work on the runway has been taken up and the current runway will be extended to 3,810 m (12,500 ft). ^[11]

Airlines and destinations

Apron area of the airport

Airlines	Destinations
Air India	Hyderabad
Alliance Air	Hyderabad [17]
IndiGo	Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolhapur, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam
SpiceJet [18]	Hyderabad, Madurai (begins 29 October 2023), [19] Mumbai
Star Air (India)	, [20] Belgaum, Gulbarga

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at TIR airport. See Wikidata query.

Incidents

On 15 November 1993, Indian Airlines Flight 440 (IC-440), an Airbus 300B2 (registered VT-EDV), operating on a scheduled flight from Madras (now Chennai) to Hyderabad, crashed into the paddy fields near Tirupati Airport. It had been diverted due to poor weather and ran out of fuel. There were no major injuries, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. ^{[21] [22] [23]}

On 29 January 2019, Air India flight AI 541 from Tirupati to New Delhi via Hyderabad suffered damages after "foreign objects" from the runway hit the underside and wings of the flight during take-off. While the underside just suffered scratches, the wings suffered heavy damage. However, the flight safely landed in Hyderabad and there were no casualties.

Notes

The airport requires planes to fly no more than an altitude of 853 m (2,799 ft) because the Venkateswara Temple which is located on the nearby hill of Tirumala, is considered sacred. The temple's Agama Shastras say that no flying object can fly higher than the height of the temple.

See also

• List of airports in Andhra Pradesh

References

1. "Annexure III – Passenger Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
2. "Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
3. "Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
4. "Vijayawada, Tirupati airports get global tag". The Hindu . 23 June 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
5. "List of International in India by AAI". Airports Authority Of India. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
6. "Tirupati International Airport" (PDF). Aviation Authority of India.
7. Press Trust of India. "No foreign flights at Tirupati, Vijaywada airports after international tag | Business Standard News". Business-standard.com. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
8. AAI. "Pre Feasibility report" (PDF). EnvironmentalClearance.nic.in. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
9. "eGazette - Tirupati International Airport" (PDF). egazette. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
10. "Stone laid for Renigunta airport runway expansion". The Hindu Business Line . 20 February 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
11. "Tirupati airport runway expansion work takes off". The Hindu. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
12. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate new terminal of Tirupati airport tomorrow". The Economic Times . 21 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
13. "PM Lays Foundation Stone for New Integrated Terminal at Tirupati Airport". Press Information Bureau . 1 September 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
14. "Int'l status for Tirupati airport still a dream". New Indian Express . Retrieved 10 September 2015.
15. "Complete works before Oct. 15: AAI Chairman". The Hindu . 11 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
16. "Govt determined to strengthen tourism infrastructure: PM". The Hindu . 22 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
17. Alliance Air (U/O) [@AllianceAir] (28 November 2022). "Alliance Air starting daily direct flights from Bengaluru and Hyderabad to Tirupati effective 28th November 2022" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 November 2022– via Twitter.
18. "SpiceJet Flight Schedule". SpiceJet. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
19. "SpiceJet to commence Madurai-Tirupati service in Oct-2023". CAPA. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
20. "STAR AIR 3Q23 DOMESTIC NETWORK ADDITIONS". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
21. "Blowing the wind". Telegraph India. 17 October 2010. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
22. "Major air crashes in India in two decades". New Indian Express . 22 May 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
23. Civil aviation accident summary (PDF). DGCA (Report). 22 May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2016.