Cochin International Airport scripts a cargo high

Having warmed the cockles of passengers’ hearts with a third terminal recently, the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) in Nedumbassery has climbed another high.

KOCHI: Having warmed the cockles of passengers’ hearts with a third terminal recently, the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) in Nedumbassery has climbed another high. The cargo terminals handled the airport’s highest ever freight tonnage last fiscal - 84,408.7 tonnes.
Buoyed by the increase in cargo handling, the airport authorities have now entrusted the government-owned consultancy Kitco to conduct a preliminary survey and prepare a project report to expand its export capabilities.

CIAL handled 6.7 per cent more cargo than the 79,087.87 tonnes registered in 2015-16. The international terminal accounted for 71,249.99 tonnes while it was 13,158.8 tonnes through the domestic terminal. The corresponding figures for the previous year stood at 67,729 and 11,356.97 tonnes respectively.
“Around 80 per cent of the cargo comprised perishable items; chiefly vegetables, fruits and fish to the West Asian and Far East destinations,” a senior officer told Express.
“In perishable cargo handling, the Kochi airport is among the largest exporters in the country after Mumbai.”
CIAL has exported around 56,547.1 tonnes of perishable items alone last fiscal, amounting to around 80 per cent of the total cargo handled. The tonnage of dry cargo was a mere 7,464.3 tonnes.
“The Malayali diaspora in the Gulf countries is the largest consumer of perishable items being exported from Kochi. The export firms are also Kerala-based companies having roots in the Gulf and the Far East,” said the officer.

PASSENGER TRAFFIC

The CIAL also handled 89,41,198 passengers during 2016-17, maintaining the status-quo of being the fourth in terms of international passengers and seventh in terms of total passengers in the country. The airport witnessed an overall increase of 15.06 per cent in passenger traffic during 2016-2017.  The domestic sector alone witnessed an increase of 26 per cent compared to last year. With a passenger movement of 49.98 lakh in the international sector and 39.42 lakh in the domestic sector, CIAL continues to be the only airport in the state handling more than 5 million passengers a year.

1. The cargo terminals at CIAL bettered its own record by handling 84,408.7 tonnes of cargo in 2016-17, up by 6.7 per cent from the previous year . In 2015-16, it was 79,087.87 tonnes.
2. The airport handled 71,249.99 tonnes through the international terminal and 13,158.8 tonnes through the domestic terminal in 2016-17. In 2015-16, it was 67,729 tonnes and 11,356.97 tonnes respectively.
3. During 2016-17, CIAL handled 62,827 aircraft movements compared to 57,762 during 2015-16, registering an increase of 8.7 per cent.
4. The domestic sector handled 31,110 aircraft movements with an increase of 11.59 per cent.
5. The previous year, the total aircraft movement in the domestic sector was 27,901.