Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has decided to renovate Terminal - 2 of the airport to accommodate a business jet terminal, VIP safe house, and a budget hotel with 50 rooms. A communication from the airport said on Sunday that the work on the project was expected to be completed in a year.
Terminal - 2 housed domestic flight operations, and they were shifted to Terminal - 1 in 2019. The new projects are being planned to scale up revenue, the communication added. CIAL Managing Director S. Suhas said the project had received the green signal from the director board of the airport headed by the Chief Minister.
The CIAL authorities are looking at different income streams, and business jet arrivals, expected to go up considerably in the future, is among the future prospects.
Terminal - 3 of the airport, which handles international arrivals and departures, has 15 lakh square feet of space and Terminal - 1, which handles domestic arrivals and departures, has six lakh square feet of space. Terminal - 2, which previously handled domestic operations, has one lakh square feet of space. The space will be divided into three sections.
CIAL, the first airport in the world to depend solely on solar power for day-to-day operations, had recently unveiled plans to become the first airport in the world to do away with landing and parking charges.
Former Managing Director V.J. Kurien had said plans were ready to diversify revenue streams and replace revenue from landing and parking charges with diversified streams of income. The major proposals include developing an ‘airport city’ on 100 acres close to the national highway. Landing charges constituted 25% to 30% of the airport income.
