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Trivandrum International Airport (തിരുവനന്തപുരം അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര വിമാനത്താവളം) is the first airport of Kerala, India located in Thiruvananthapuram in the Indian state of Kerala.

TIA is considered as the only "all weather" airport in the country and is ISO 9001-2000 certified.

Trivandrum International Airport is approximately 3.7 km due west from the central business district, 16 km from Kovalam beach, 9.4 km from Technopark Trivandrum and 21 km from the proposed Vizhinjam International Seaport.It is the second busiest airport in Kerala in terms of domestic and international traffic after Cochin International Airport.

History
The airport was established in 1932 as part of the Royal Flying Club under the initiative of Colonel Goda Varma Raja, husband of H.H Queen Karthika Thirunal of Travancore Kingdom. Col G.V Raja, being a trained pilot, felt the need an airport to accommodate Travancore in the aviation map of India. In 1935, on royal patronage of H.H Maharaja Chitra Thirunal, Tata Airlines made its maiden flight to the airport using DH.83 Fox Moth aircraft under command of India's first pilot Nevill Vincent, carried two passengers Jamshed Navoroji, a Tata company official, and Kanchi Dwarakadas, commercial agent of Travancore to Bombay Presidency along with a special mail from Viceroy of British India, Lord Willingdon wishing birthday greetings to the Maharaja. The first flight from the airport took off on 1 November 1935, carrying mails of Royal Anchal (Travancore Post) to Bombay. Soon in 1938, the Royal Government of Travancore acquired a Dakota aircraft as  Maharaja's private aircraft and placed 1st squadron of Royal Indian Air Force (Travancore) for protection of state from aerial attacks. After Independence, the airstrip was used for handling domestic flights with construction of a domestic terminal- T1. International operations were initiated by Air India to several cities in the Middle East during the latter half of the 80s. Very soon, SriLankan Airlines (then Air Lanka) & Air Male joined the race. On 1 January 1991, it was upgraded to an international airport, making it the first such airport in India outside the metropolitan cities.

Passenger airlines
There are three terminals, Terminals 1 and 2 serving only domestic flights and Terminal 3 serving international flights. The domestic terminal can handle up-to 500 passengers at time and the International Terminal can handle 1,500 passengers at a time.

Ground operations are handled by Air India and Airports Authority of India. It has basic amenities including cafés, a book-seller, duty-free shopping, free local calls, phone-recharging points and an executive lounge run by Muthoot Plaza.

Devolpments


The newly built Terminal 3 has three additional jetways and parking bays to accommodate 8 aircrafts. The terminal is built opposite to the current terminal across the runway and would be closer to the city side.

The terminal, being constructed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and designed by UK firm, Pascall+Watson architects, on the city side, is expected to give a big impetus to the development of the IT sector and the tourism industry in the southern districts of Kerala (Technopark Trivandrum and the Technocity, Thiruvananthapuram are respectively at a distance of 12 km and 19 km from terminal 3).

The three-storey building with an area of 20,000 sq. meters, designed by a consortium of three companies, is of tubular design. The terminal will be able to handle the passengers of two A-340s and one Boeing 747 aircraft at the same time. The present terminal can only cater to about 500 passengers at a time. The new terminal would be able to handle up to 1600 passengers at a time.

To enable the passengers to check in at any counter, a Common Users Terminal Equipment (CUTE) is installed. X-ray machines will be attached to the side of the conveyor belts for faster clearance of baggage. The check-in area has a floor area of 950 sq. metres and the arrival area 570 sq. metres. The annual handling capacity of the terminal will be 13.3 lakh (1.33 million). The entrance to the terminal will be from the Chaka-Eenchakkal road. A bridge has been built across the Parvathy Puthanar canal to link the new terminal to the Kazhakuttam-Inchivila NH (National Highway) 47 bypass.


 * Facilities at the terminal

The state-of-the-art facilities in the airport are made according to the most modern techniques prescribed by the international agencies. Steel and glass are the chief ingredients used for making the terminal. The centralized air conditioning, escalators and the flight information display are arranged according to the international standards. For the convenience of the departing passengers, the x-ray baggage examination facility is connected to the departure conveyor. This enables a speedy check-in before the journey. The Common User Terminal Equipment [CUTE] is facilitated in the check-in counters. CUTE is a user friendly computer system which helps each and every user. The security operations of the airport are very well planned. For the purpose, the closed circuit cameras are arranged in every nook and corner. The making of the terminal is a modular structure where it can easily change the structure for the future needs.

Green Airport
The environment and the surrounding of the terminal is in total green. The preparations of the airport authority are in such a way to keep it in green and eco-friendly. For the purpose the authority has planted 40 different traditional plants inside the campus. In 5 years span, the campus will grow as a miniature forest. The garden, the water fountain and the lawn are well maintained. The advanced sewage handling system is built with the co-operation of Kerala water authority. The airport authority took maximum care for the least usage of electricity. For the purpose, the complex has been built in such a way to absorb maximum natural light.

Airport parking and car rental
Terminal 1 and 2 at the airport have a total parking area of 16,390 m2. To reach the airport, passengers can catch the city bus, use the general taxi service at the taxi stand, or take advantage of the prepaid and interstate taxi services at the prepaid taxi counter. The new terminal 3 is being constructed with a car park area that can accommodate about 600 cars.