TRIVANDRUM, 29 December 2003 — Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), India’s first corporate airport mainly promoted by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), has registered a record growth in profits thanks to impressive increase in the number of airlines, passengers and cargo movement.
International flights increased by 42 percent as it went up to 5,618 during April to November 2003 from 3,952 flights during the same period the previous year, according to the CIAL Managing Director V.J. Kurien.
There was an increase of 49 percent in the number of international passengers while cargo movement recorded a whopping 145 percent growth. The number of domestic flights has also gone up from 4,675 to 5,212.
Cochin has now overtaken Calcutta and Trivandrum to become the fourth airport in India in terms of passenger traffic after Delhi, Bombay and Madras. The number of international passengers went up to 561,589 and the domestic passengers to 291,786. The figure is expected to cross 1.2 million during the current fiscal, Kurien said.
Saudia, Qatar Airways, Sri Lankan Airlines, Gulf Air and Air Sahara commenced their operations from Cochin this year. Oman Airways, Emirates, Silk Air and Kuwait Airways, in addition to Air-India, Indian Airlines and Jet Airways were already flying to Cochin. Some 160 flights operate from the airport every week — 98 of them international and the rest domestic.
A detailed report of the financial position of the company, which started making profit last year, would be presented in the general meeting of the shareholders at the Ernakulam Town Hall today. Chief Minister A.K. Antony, chairman of the company, would preside over the meeting.
The meeting will also decide on the Airport Authority of India (AAI)’s investment proposal and the issue of converting Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco)’s loan to equity.
Of around 12,000 shareholders, nearly 4,000 are NRIs from 30 countries who have contributed 580 million rupees of the total share capital of 1.48 billion rupees. A representative of the NRI shareholders said they would demand at the meeting withdrawal of user’s fee levied on the international passengers as the company was already running on profit. The company had collected 1.4 million rupees as user’s fee during the aforementioned period.
Kurien said the company was in touch with various airlines and cargo agents in Tirupur, Karur and Coimbatore to attract more consignments.
