The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), India’s first in the PPP-model, is all decked up to open its new international terminal later this month. With a peak hour capacity of around 4,000 passengers, the 15 lakh-sq-ft terminal was constructed at a cost of ₹1,150 crore.

The new terminal would give a boost to the state’s reputation as one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. The present terminal has benefited from the tourist traffic. Passenger arrivals stood at 7.7 million during FY-15, compared to less than half-a- million when operations began in 1999. Today, CIAL stands fourth in the country in terms of international passengers and seventh in total passengers.

“The new terminal – T-3 -- has been constructed with all possible modern facilities, which can live up to the challenges and requirements of the aviation industry for the next 25 years”, says VJ Kurian, Managing Director. “We have imported materials such as aero-bridges that are not manufactured in the country”, he said. Having laid the foundation stone in February 2014, the terminal’s construction was completed in 24 months. The boasts of 10 aero bridges, nine escalators, 18 elevators and 120 check in/immigration counters. Its car port, which has solar panels with capacity of 2.5 MWp on its roof, can house 1,500 cars at a time. CIAL is claimed to be the first airport in the world that fully operates on solar power.

High praise

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who visited the airport in October, was all praise for CIAL and pointed out that the baggage and security systems installed at the airport are among the most sophisticated in the world. His 81-member delegation inspected the ₹100-crore baggage handling system and integrated explosive detection X-ray system which were installed at the T-3 terminal by New Zealand firm Glidepath. This system will screen all the baggages, a first in the country as till now these were used for screening only selected, or suspicious baggages. It shows the 3-D image of bags and the degradable and non-degradable contents inside. The outbound departure system is capable of moving 6,000 bags per hour.

CIAL, which boasts of 18,300 investors from 36 countries, has showcased Kerala’s architecture in the new terminal. Life-size elephants models, made of fibre will welcome the passegners arriving at T-3.

CIAL had revenues of ₹524.5 crore in the last financial year, with a profit of ₹175.22 crore. Once the T-3 becomes operational, Kurian said the existing international terminal will be used for domestic passengers. The present domestic terminal will cater to business jets.

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