Thiruvananthapuram Airport Guide: Kerala’s Seaside Gulf Gateway
Thiruvananthapuram Airport sits beside the Arabian Sea and closes for temple processions. Our guide covers its runway, terminals, Gulf routes and access.
By The Aviation Hub
6 min read
Updated October 20, 2026 
Few Indian airports sit as close to the sea as Trivandrum, where the airfield lies barely a kilometre from the Arabian Sea surf. Thiruvananthapuram Airport serves the capital of Kerala and handled close to 4.9 million passengers in the 2024 to 2025 financial year. More of those travellers flew abroad than within India, a pattern shaped by Kerala’s huge Gulf workforce. The airport also closes twice a year so a temple procession can cross the runway.
Thiruvananthapuram Airport at a Glance
The IATA code is TRV and the ICAO code is VOTV. The airfield lies around 2 miles (4 km) west of the city centre, at an elevation of just 5 metres (15 feet). It has one runway and two terminals, one for domestic and one for international flights. Thiruvananthapuram Airport recorded about 4.9 million passengers in 2024 to 2025, with roughly 2.9 million of them international.
No airline uses the field as a formal hub, though Air India Express has a heavy presence and Air India runs a maintenance base here. The Adani Group operates the airport under a 50 year lease from the Airports Authority of India. Schedules, parking and terminal details are on the airport’s official website.
How Trivandrum’s Airport Came to Be
Aviation arrived in 1932 with the Royal Flying Club. The driving force was Lieutenant Colonel Raja Goda Varma, a trained pilot and husband of the Rani of Attingal. Tata Airlines made its first flight to the city in 1935, and the first mail service to Bombay left on 1 November that year. The name comes from the city itself, which honours the deity Ananta, the serpent on which Lord Padmanabha reclines.
The Gulf boom changed everything. Air India began flights to the Middle East in the late 1970s, followed by Colombo and Male in the early 1980s. The field gained full international status on 1 January 1991. A domestic terminal opened in 1992, and a new international terminal took its first flights on 1 March 2011, when Air India Express arrived from Sharjah.
Privatisation followed. The Adani Group won the bid in 2019, and Thiruvananthapuram Airport passed to its control in 2021 after legal challenges from the Kerala government. Another unusual chapter came in June 2025. A Royal Air Force F-35B from HMS Prince of Wales diverted in and stayed stranded for about five weeks before repairs allowed it to leave.
Runways at Thiruvananthapuram Airport
A single runway, 14/32, carries all traffic. It measures 3,374 metres (11,070 feet) long and 46 metres wide, with an asphalt surface. A partial parallel taxiway of about 1,880 metres (6,170 feet) speeds up movements. The length easily handles wide body types such as the Boeing 777 on Gulf services.
The strangest feature is cultural. Twice a year, during the Aippasi festival in October or November and the Panguni festival in March or April, the runway closes for several hours. The Arattu procession of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple crosses the airfield on its way to Shankumugham Beach for a ritual bath. A NOTAM goes out in advance, and airlines retime flights around it. Few runways anywhere carry that kind of tradition, and Thiruvananthapuram Airport honours it every year.
Terminals and Airlines
The two terminals sit on opposite sides of the runway, so allow plenty of time for any transfer by road. Terminal 1, the domestic building near Shankumugham, has two aerobridges and handles all flights within India. Terminal 2, the international building on the eastern side at Chakka, opened in 2011 and links straight to the NH66 bypass.
IndiGo leads the domestic market, with Air India and Air India Express behind it. Internationally, Air India Express flies an extensive Gulf network from Terminal 2. Foreign carriers include Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, Oman Air and SriLankan Airlines. Air India’s narrow body maintenance unit runs twin hangars here, mainly servicing Air India Express Boeing 737s.
Routes and Destinations
The Gulf dominates. Services to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha, Muscat and other Middle Eastern cities carry Keralite workers and their families. Traffic peaks around school holidays, Onam and the end of Ramadan. Colombo and Male add short international hops, and Thiruvananthapuram Airport also draws tourists bound for Kovalam and Varkala.
Domestically, the strongest routes run to Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad. The longest regular flights run to Kuwait and Riyadh, each more than 3,600 km away. Winter brings extra leisure demand as sun seekers head for the Kerala coast. Cargo is modest and travels mostly in the holds of passenger aircraft bound for Gulf markets.
Getting to and from Thiruvananthapuram Airport
Road is the main option, and the city is close. Terminal 2 connects to the NH66 bypass by a bridge over the Parvathy Puthanar canal, while Terminal 1 opens onto the road near Shankumugham. Taxis and app cabs reach the city centre in around 20 minutes outside rush hour. Kovalam is roughly 10 miles (16 km) away and Technopark about 8 miles (13 km).
There is no direct rail link. Thiruvananthapuram Central station is a short taxi ride away, as is Kochuveli, now renamed Thiruvananthapuram North. Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses run along the bypass, the cheapest sensible option for light travellers. Prepaid taxis wait outside both terminals, and the international terminal car park holds around 600 vehicles at Thiruvananthapuram Airport.
Spotting and Photography
The coastal setting makes this a photogenic airport. Spotters often use the beach road near Shankumugham, where aircraft pass over the shoreline with the Arabian Sea behind them. Emirates Boeing 777s, Air India Express 737s and IndiGo A320neo jets make up the daily mix. The Arattu procession days draw photographers of a different kind.
Thiruvananthapuram Airport shares the field with an Indian Air Force station, so security is tight. Keep away from fences, avoid restricted signs and stop if police or security staff ask. Runway direction depends on sea breezes and monsoon winds, so check a live tracker first. The June to September monsoon brings heavy rain, while the dry winter months give the clearest light.
What Comes Next
Adani has big plans. The Airports Authority of India announced a new terminal of around 44,000 square metres in 2023, along with land acquisition to extend the runway. A new 50 metre control tower is planned, and Air India intends to add a dual bay maintenance hangar. BrahMos Aerospace is also due to relocate its local unit to free up space.
The challenge is land. The airfield is boxed in by the sea, the city and dense housing, so every metre of expansion is contested. Even so, Kerala’s Gulf links and tourism growth give Thiruvananthapuram Airport a secure future as a mid sized international gateway. Explore more of the region on our Airports of the World map.
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