The Tamil Nadu government has proposed to offer an additional 10.72 acres of land to build the new airport at Vellore. The airport currently has a runway, taxiway, Air Traffic Control (ATC), aviation information receiving facility, ground handling equipment, terminal building and oil depot.
The commissioning of the new airport was stalled as the state government had not yet finalised the compensation for land acquisition. The new airport, built on a 97-acre plot, was commissioned under the second phase of the UDAN-RCS (Ude Desh Ke Aam Nagrik-A Regional Connectivity Scheme). It is a government scheme to promote air travel among passengers from smaller towns close to metropolitan or tier-two cities.
The new airport will boost connectivity for Christian Medical College and other technical institutes that host students from many North Indian cities. Processes were quickened after a private aircraft operator expressed interest in operating a nineteen-seater aircraft.
