Cochin's new airport sets new standards

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The country's first ever private-public partnership based airport, the Kochi International Airport is also the lowest cost airport ever built reports CNBC-TV18.

 

Good news for travellers who put up with the daily hassles of international airports in India. The Cochin International Airport, the country's first public-private joint venture in civil aviation is close to setting a benchmark. This airport will soon emerge as the India's first airport town-ship, with an investment of just Rs 300 crore.

 

"The government is there to give the policy support and the delays of red-tapism and bureaucratic functioning are not here. So decisions are taken quick and fast, which you won't find in any other airport in the country," says S Bharath, Managing Director, Cochin International Airport.

 

Sub-projects, 18 different ones, including a Rs 6.4 crore IT park, a golf course, a perishable cargo unit, half-a-dozen five star hotels and an aviation academy spread out on 1300 acres of land which the CIAL loans in and around the existing airport.

 

There is also going to be a state-of-the-art maintenance and hanger unit exclusively for airbus 380. This airport township will be funded by the NRI's of Kerala, the state government and other financial institutions. Not only will this be the first of its kind in the country, the project will also have huge employment potential

 

"The idea is to capitalize on kerala's strengths. Employment generation is the key and with the state having such a huge human resource potential it will not be problem. Instead of people going all the way to gulf to find a job, lets have viable employment here" feels Bharath.

 

The CIAL success story has already become a case study for professionals at the Harvard school of Economics. The Sri Lankan government has already approached CIAL to replicate the Cochin model for them.

 

 Having made a huge successful economic model, the CIAL with its new value added services hopes to make this airport the gateway to Kerala and with plans for an airport township already in place, the Cochin international airport is all set to change the way we look at civil aviation in this country.