KOCHI: The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), which manages the Kochi airport, the fourth busiest in India in terms of international traffic, aims to seize the early bird advantage of the projected domestic travel boom in the country, as it now plans to undertake domestic passenger terminal expansion and further increase of aircraft parking bays.
In fact, the airport management has articulated a vision for its next growth phase and aims to maximise connectivity, thereby becoming a regional hub by 2034.
“Kochi airport aims to become the preferred tourist gateway to south India in its first phase of growth journey by leveraging the state’s tourism potential and engaging airlines to enhance its domestic as well as international connectivity footprint. With focused efforts and developing strategic partnerships with airlines, we aim to maximise connectivity and become a regional hub by 2034,” said CIAL managing director S Suhas.
The airport has envisioned an array of short-term and long-term projects post in-depth analysis of the key macroeconomic indicators (such as gross state domestic product, tourism statistics etc), projected sector-wise traffic demand and expansion plans of Indian as well as foreign carriers.
“After the project for the expansion of the international terminal, T-3, we will take up the domestic terminal building (T-1) expansion. The current 6 lakh sq ft domestic terminal (T-1) would be expanded by another 1.8 lakh sq ft to facilitate the operation of more domestic flights,” a CIAL official said.
At present, the domestic terminal complex has exclusive arrival and departure areas, with a peak hour passenger handling capacity of 2,000 incoming and 2,000 outgoing passengers. Also, the total parking bays will be further increased to 48. The construction of a new apron at the northern flank of the existing pier of T-3, sprawling over 15 lakh sq ft, has been taken up. Besides, another 5 lakh sq ft will be further developed for aircraft parking bays, taking the existing 32 bays to 48.
Plans impacted by projected domestic travel boom
“The domestic travel sector is registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 16%. The aviation landscape of India is also set to change.
The ratio of domestic to international travellers is expected to be 55:45 instead of the current 40:60. Further, Indian airlines IndiGo and Air India alone have placed orders for over 1,100 aircraft that are to be delivered in the coming years. We plan to undertake infrastructure enhancement, foreseeing the domestic travel demand of aircraft parking bays,” the CIAL official added.
The select initiatives that the airport management will be working on in the short term also include engaging with Indian and foreign carriers on a regular basis to meet connectivity objectives and establish a B2B platform to collaborate and promote tourism to make CIAL a preferred gateway to India.
“Terminal expansion, airport hotel, transit accommodation and entertainment zone will be the key highlights that will support CIAL’s infrastructure vision. Accordingly, we also plan to do in-depth customer profiling studies and journey mapping,” the official pointed out.
The Kochi airport handles 70,203 aircraft, operated by 25 airlines, while catering to 105.29 lakh passengers in FY 2023-24, its highest passenger volume, surpassing the one crore passenger footfalls for the first time in a calendar year.