According to sources at the airport, the decision to lease out the terminal which is likely to be commissioned by the end of this year was taken at a high-level meeting of the AAI and AI held recently.

The terminal will be used exclusively by Air-India and other international airlines handled by it, just like the domestic terminal 1A at Santacruz, which caters only to Indian Airlines' flight operations.

Official sources informed that once the new terminal 2C was made operational, the AAI has plans to carry out major renovations at terminal 2B which was commissioned in 1986, and it will be closed for a period of about two years for the purpose. All the activities of the terminal 2B will be shifted to the new terminal during that period.

Allaying fears that the commissioning of the new terminalwill not help in decongesting the airport if all the activities of terminal 2B, which annually handles about 2.5 million passengers were shifted there, sources maintained that the new terminal was nearly double the size of terminal 2B and would easily be able to handle all operations.

The new terminal 2C also has about 17 metres more area throughout its length towards the apron side than the two existing terminals.

Terminal 2A, which was commissioned in 1980, and terminal 2B were designed to handle 2.5 million passengers each annually and have become saturated since last several years.

Terminal 2C constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 142.32 crore spans over an area of 70,865 square metres and will have the latest conveyor belt systems, public address systems and a fire sprinkler system. Besides, the terminal has been designed on the best international standards and is expected to provide world class passenger facilities.