Kerala CM inaugurates new passenger terminal at Cochin International Airport

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan opened Cochin International Airport Limited’s new integrated international passenger terminal for commercial operation. The Chief Minister lauded the CIAL, the country’s first airport built under PPP model, which has scripted a new chapter in aviation history by becoming the first in the world that completely operates on solar power. The Chief Minister received passengers and crew who arrived at the new airport Terminal 3 via a Jet Airways flight from Muscat to Kochi in the evening. The first flight which arrived at the new terminal was received by ‘water salute’ as per tradition. The foundation stone for the project was laid in Februrary 2014 by then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in view of growth in passenger traffic through CIAL.  The terminal, having a built up area of 15 lakh sq ft, was inaugurated in February last year. It is having a peak hour capacity of 4000 passengers, according to a CIAL release. Vijayan also inaugurated the the 4.3 km long four-lane road connecting the airport and National Highway at Athani near Aluva and also the expansion of the CIAL’s solar power capacity from 15.5 MW to 21.5 MW.
(Source: PTI)