Kolkata airport will expand its international and domestic lounges, remodel its food-and-beverage areas and increase retail space as part of a terminal-wide commercial revamp aimed at easing passenger congestion during peak departure periods.
An unused area beside the existing international business-class lounge on the upper level will be converted into additional lounge space, an airport official said. The airport currently has two international lounges covering about 5,000 square feet and handling an average of around 500 passengers a day. Its domestic lounges cover approximately 5,500 square feet and record an average daily footfall of 2,400 passengers.
The international lounges experience uneven demand. While they remain relatively empty for much of the day because of limited flight activity, the facilities become congested at night when several flights to destinations including Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok and Doha depart in succession. The proposed expansion is intended to address this peak-hour pressure, the official said.
The contract with the existing lounge and food-and-beverage operator is expected to end early next year. The planned overhaul will follow the conclusion of that contract and will include a redesign of the food-and-beverage section. The airport is also expected to create more room for retail stores and introduce a new concession arrangement.
The terminal’s retail footprint could rise from 1,310 square metres to 1,500 square metres, subject to discussions with the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. Authorities have already added 4,000 square metres to the terminal by constructing a structure beside the international section. The addition has increased the airport’s annual passenger-handling capacity from 26 million to 28 million.
A new tender is expected to be floated for a master concessionaire that would bring retailers into the airport. The proposed contract would use a per-passenger charge, with revenue sharing linked to passenger footfall. Airport officials said the model was intended to provide greater margin predictability and encourage a wider retail mix, including categories that may be difficult to support under steep minimum monthly guarantees or high revenue-share obligations.
The retail changes come after the closure of the international duty-free shop on July 3, 2026, which was reported to have inconvenienced passengers. Currency exchange counters at the terminal have also reportedly remained out of operation for more than a year.
However, stakeholders have raised concerns about the proposed tender formula. Under the model, international passenger traffic would receive twice the weight of domestic traffic when concession fees are calculated. The approach is based on the assumption that international passengers spend twice as much as domestic passengers across all retail categories. At Kolkata airport, daily international passenger footfall is estimated at 3,000 to 3,500, and industry representatives have argued that the formula could make international retail units commercially difficult to sustain.
The airport official said the new tender format had been finalised by the Airports Authority of India headquarters in Delhi. The expansion and retail changes will proceed alongside the transition to the new concession arrangements.
