Surat: Amid claims by airport activist groups about space shortage at Surat airport terminal building and lackadaisical attitude of Airports Authority of India (AAI) in taking up expansion of the same, airport director Dilip Sajnani feels that there is enough space to accommodate new airlines starting operations from Surat as well as passengers.Sajnani stated that the AAI is providing office and counter space to the airlines wanting to start flight operations from Surat. At present, SpiceJet, Air India, Ventura AirConnect and Air Odisha operate from Surat airport and that AirAsia India has started setting up its booking office and counters at the airport for its upcoming launch of flight services connecting Surat and Bengaluru.However, airport activists have claimed that Indigo airlines was reportedly told by airport director that they are running short of space at the terminal building and hence need to first provide slot timings for proposed flight operations.Sajnani said, “We have enough space at the terminal building to accommodate existing as well as new airlines planning to start operations from Surat airport. The expansion of terminal building is in the pipeline and that the project is under final estimation stage.”With increase in air connectivity and passenger traffic, the terminal building of Surat airport is bursting at the seams. The terminal remains so much congested that passengers do not have enough chairs to sit in the waiting area.As the check-ins are done an hour ahead of scheduled departure, passengers have to literally stand as the available seats are already occupied. The situation is worse when the passengers of two separate flights are stacked together in the waiting area.It’s more than one-and-a-half-year since the proposal for the terminal expansion was moved by the then airport director Pramod Kumar Thakre. Till now, the AAI has reached at the stage of approving only the scope of work for the expansion of terminal building and that the project is still under detailed estimation stage at central headquarters level.Surat airport is operating 22 scheduled flights and 10 non-scheduled flights with monthly passenger capacity of 65,000. The AAI has taken a long time for calculating detailed estimates of the terminal building. The scope of work was approved last year in February.Airport activist Rajesh Modi said, “Many letters have been sent to the AAI and the Civil Aviation Ministry to speed up the work of terminal expansion at Surat. The present space at the terminal is not enough to cater to the increasing number of passengers.”

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