Business jet terminal, 5-star hotel among projects to power Cochin Int’l Airport ahead

Cochin International Airport (Image Source: Shutterstock)

COVID-19 has been a wake-up call for Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL). The damaging impact of the pandemic on its revenue has prompted the airport to initiate a slew of projects to boost its aero as well as non-aero income.

CIAL has several firsts to its credit. The country’s first public-private partnership (PPP) airport is already the first in the world to run fully on solar power. Last year, it ventured into hydel power projects. With its solar and hydel projects, it is currently the second-largest power producer in Kerala, after the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). CIAL produces 2 lakh units per day.

Now, it is going for a five-star hotel and a jet terminal to park business jets and chartered flights, besides looking for increased returns from its subsidiary Cochin Duty Free and Retail Service Ltd (CDRSL).

The pandemic had shrunk its income in FY21. But the airport made a comeback last year with an improved performance. CIAL MD S Suhas has realised the need to step up efforts to raise non-aero revenue to meet eventualities like the pandemic in future.

This is being done concomitantly with its efforts to increase connectivity by operating more airlines from the airport. As per the latest statistics by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), CIAL comes third in terms of international traffic and seventh in domestic traffic in the country.

"All revenue-generating verticals of CIAL, including CDRSL, infrastructure management, retail, commercial, and ground-handling systems were impacted by the pandemic. Now, CIAL and its subsidiaries are recovering,’’ Suhas said.

After having incurred a loss of Rs. 87.21 crore on a turnover of Rs 252.71 crore in 2020-21, the company registered a net profit of Rs 26.13 crore on a turnover of Rs 418.69 crore for FY22.  CDRSL’s turnover jumped to Rs 150.59 crore from Rs 52.32 crore.

CIAL, which used to handle around 10 million passengers annually, witnessed a sharp drop, both in passenger traffic and revenue, during the pandemic. With pandemic difficulties easing, the management implemented new operational strategies and financial restructuring to improve connectivity and general performance. Subsequently, the number of passengers increased to 47.59 lakh in FY22 from 24.7 lakh in the previous year.

The company is eying a revenue of Rs 675 crore for the current fiscal. The target worked out for CDRSL for the current financial year is Rs 270 crore.

Five-star hotel, business jet terminal in the works

CIAL’s idea of a five-star hotel is to meet a long-felt need for a premium hotel near the airport. “The structural work of the proposed hotel, spread across four acres near the airport entrance, has been completed. CIAL is now in the stage of inviting tenders for the operation and maintenance of the Rs 160 crore, 110 key-project, ‘’ Suhas said. The hotel is expected to be completed in early 2024.

Another project, which is underway, is the conversion of the erstwhile T2 Terminal, partially into a business jet terminal at a cost of Rs 30 crore. This will address the need for more facilities to cater to the rising number of chartered flights to the airport and a safe and secure place for VVIPs.

The handling capacity of the 3,150 sq m business jet terminal will be 20 passengers per hour. The facilities include car porches, grand lobby, luxurious lounges, check-in, immigration, customs, and security frisking counters for the smooth movements of guests. The project will be inaugurated in November 2022.

After the construction of the business jet terminal, the remaining space at the old domestic terminal, T2, may be developed for setting up short-duration stay rooms, meeting rooms, lounges, conference halls, etc.

Other projects that are in the pipeline are golf tourism projects connected with The CIAL Golf Club (CGC), which has been developed on 130 acres of rolling greens, the only 18-hole golf course in Kerala.

Expansion activities will be funded from CIAL’s own resources.

As per the ongoing summer schedule, CIAL has been handling 1,200 aircraft movement per week. CIAL's summer schedule has 20 airlines operating to destinations abroad. Among them, 16 are international carriers, operating 261 weekly departures.

“We are hoping for an increase of 20 percent in the upcoming winter schedule. More services to Europe and Far East in the winter schedule starting from October are in the pipeline,’’ Suhas pointed out.

Closer airline, airport operator collaboration, green initiatives

CIAL is also focusing on closer airline and airport operator collaboration. "We have already made some progress. While Go First, the budget carrier, has started three international services from Kochi, Akasa Air, India’s newest airline, started its service in the Bengaluru -Kochi-Bengaluru sector. Kochi topped the list of Akasa’s first phase of operation with 56 services catering to Kochi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru," Suhas said.

Meanwhile, CIAL has progressed much in its green initiatives. It has come a long way after starting its solar initiatives, with a 100-kw pilot plant in 2013. Today, it has an installed solar capacity of 50 MW.  Of the 2 lakh units of power produced, CIAL’s usage comes to 1.6 lakh units and the rest is sold to KSEB. It has achieved a cumulative production of 25 crore units, reducing the carbon footprint by 1,60,000 tonnes.

The 12 MW solar plant at Payyannur in Kannur, which was inaugurated in March 2022, has generated approximately one crore units of green power till date. The small hydroelectric project at Arippara in Kozhikode, commissioned in November last year, has also generated approximately 75 lakh units until now, according to Suhas.

Agro-photovoltaic activities utilising the vacant spaces between the solar panels in the CIAL solar plant have so far produced approximately 90 metric tonnes of pesticide-free vegetables.

Though CIAL has been permitted to construct eight more hydel stations, it has kept the plans in abeyance because of the impact of the pandemic and high land prices.

Suhas said the company keeps a close watch on how its interventions affect society and the world around. A huge establishment like an airport requires a high volume of energy to operate upon. And by using green energy, CIAL hopes to contribute in its way to a healthier and greener planet.

“CIAL’s vision is to focus on the opportunities which can make a real difference, and facilitate further action which helps our planet. CIAL’s objective was not to offset airplane-related emissions at the airport but to take a small step towards powering the entire airport and allied facilities through solar energy and to send out a message to the world that a medium-sized airport can become self-sufficient on solar power," he said.