Airport: Soft Opening Likely on March 12

Delivery of the construction of the new terminal at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport is scheduled this month, showing a slight delay compared to the established program because of additional work. In this perspective, the objective of Airports of Mauritius Limited (AML) and Airport Terminal Operations Limited (ATOL), Franco-Mauritian formed to manage the new airport during the first five years is to ensure a soft opening coinciding with celebrations for the 45th anniversary of independence on 12 March. Meanwhile, the logistics is set up for simulation tests to international standards of equipment installed for a full commissioning in July at the latest.

structure of the New Airport Terminal is declining under the profile tree passenger (Traveller's Palm) is already installed in the skyline of the South-East of the island in the backdrop background blue Indian Ocean. However, this enormous project, requiring an investment of around Rs 12 billion, should be delivered to the authorities this month when the initial schedule established contractors with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited relied on December of the Last year, three years after the first sod.

This setback should not affect the deadlines for formal commissioning of the new terminal at the beginning of the year. Consultations were initiated with the Prime Minister's Office with a view to pre-opening (Soft Opening) 12 March on the sidelines of the celebrations of the 45th anniversary of the accession of the country to independence and the 21st of the republic.

every indication this inaugural ceremony will be one of the highlights of the program celebrating the national holiday. But none of the sources approached by Weekend either side of Airports of Mauritius Limited, Airport Terminal Operations Limited or to the Government House was willing to venture to confirm the detail around the New operationalization of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport.

One of the main reasons for the delay in delivery of the device is additional work "within costs", which among other SPEs refurbished in the last minute at the Head of State Lounge at the airport. Meanwhile, the transfer of various departments and personnel of the former to the new terminal will be phased according to a plan developed in collaboration with all stakeholders in order to facilitate the move and minimize any "disruption of services at the airport . "

With modern facilities and new spaces and especially luxurious and developed within the new terminal, rents and other user fees will be revised upward. This is not appreciated by the side operators, who already reluctant to face this eventuality, but the majority are in a situation of "take it or leave it."

However, the work used the New Airport Terminal SSR, the we willingly cites the case of a powerful group within the rain and the weather at the airport in recent years. Responsible for this business group originally submitted their specifications and needs space to be housed in the new terminal. Now that their demands were met, they protest against rents claimed. They suggest that the round is not about to submit to these conditions and have to go higher to resolve this dispute in their way before the start of activities.

With the end of the shell, focus on work inside the terminal is placed on electrical installations and computer. Testing and simulation exercises will succeed in meeting the requirements of international safety standards and requirements for certification and expertise. This step must be taken in increments from next month until the commissioning of the entire terminal.

Technically, the new airport infrastructure should be able to accommodate 4.5 million passengers annually, a average of 1,640 passengers per hour at peak times against 750 currently. So far, the number of passengers passing through the SSR International Airport is an average of 2.2 million per year.

terminal covers an area of 57,000 square meters and is equipped with facilities for at least five boarding gates, including compatible accommodate Airbus A 380, 52 check-in desks for passengers departing, 26 immigration counters, five carousels for receipt of baggage of passengers arriving and five bridges telescopic boarding and disembarking passengers.

Outside the terminal, new parking facilities are already available, while a special space is provided for accompanying passengers in departure and arrival. Funding of around Rs 12 billion was provided through a loan dealer 2% over a period of 15 years with the Exim Bank of China.