KOCHI: The IATA Agents Association of India has protested against the ‘biased attitude’ of Cochin International Airport Limited(CIAL) in omitting stakeholders from the official inaugural function of the airport’s T3 terminal. The newly constructed terminal will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday.
Biji Eapen, national president, IATA Agents Association, said on Friday that the celebrations would be marred by the omission of the travel and tourism trade industry. “CIAL has failed to recognise the members of the industry. This is the second time CIAL is ignoring the travel trade services, the previous occasion was during the formal inauguration of the T3 terminal on February 26, 2016,” he said.
Biji said 80 per cent of international and 65 per cent of domestic sales were still being done by traditional travel agents. “The success of an airport in terms of traffic volumes is always dependant on the sincere support and coordination of travel, cargo and tour organisations. With airline operators being omitted from the programme, the inauguration is likely to be a private one involving only CIAL officials,” he said.