Cochin International Airport

(i) Cochin International Airport is the first greenfield airport in the country built with public-private partnerships. Planned and constructed from scratch, the airport has been acclaimed for setting a novel idea in infrastructure development. The astonishing public participation, relentless support from NRIs and effective leadership have made CIAL, the company that built and operates the airport, an international brand. It is also the first airport in the world fully powered by solar energy. Ever since commercial operations started on 10th June 1999 with an International flight to Dammam. CIAL has grown rapidly becoming the 4th largest International Airport in India in terms of international passenger traffic in just four years.

(ii) Mr.V.J.Kurian IAS is the founder managing director of the company and the project itself is his brainchild. With the guidance and patronage of Late Mr.K.Karunakaran, former Chief Minister of Kerala, Mr.Kurian could materialize a never before an idea of building an international airport with a public-private partnership. He was responsible for the entire project from conception to making the company a runaway success.

(iii) Stats to show CIAL Performance in FY18-19. CIAL recorded a cumulative annual growth rate of nearly 20% in the initial 8 years and thereafter at 12% with annual passenger traffic touching 7.7 million in 2015-16.  The airport handled 8.9 million passengers during 2016-17 and the weekly aircraft movements stand around 1200. For the first time in its history, the passenger volume for a single financial year (2017-18) touched 1 cr on 28th March 2018. In FY18-19, the CIAL has once again crossed the passenger volume of 1 cr. The number of Aircraft movement has also increased to 71,871 as compared to  69,665 last year.

(iv) Kochi in Kerala is witnessing unprecedented growth. Kochi has become the business hub of Kerala and is witnessing a number of mega projects like LNG terminal, International Cargo Container Terminal, etc. Studies in the tourism sector showed an annual growth of 7% in foreign tourists and 9% in domestic tourists. Kerala Government’s Vision 2025 sets its targets.