The Hindu : Business : CIAL registers substantial growth in aircraft and passenger movements

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 24, 2006

Business

Business

CIAL registers substantial growth in aircraft and passenger movements

A Correspondent

Two international carriers launched operations during the current fiscal

NEDUMBASSERY: The Cochin International Airport has registered substantial growth in aircraft and passenger movements, both in international and domestic sectors, in the current fiscal.

During the period, two international carriers launched operations while three new domestic carriers set up offices here. Air-India Express, the no-frills subsidiary of Air-India and Teheran-based Mahan Air were the new international players.

Domestic sector

The domestic sector saw the launch of Air Deccan, the country's first domestic budget airline, Kingfisher Airlines, promoted by the UB group and Go Air, promoted by the Wadia Group.

The total passenger movement through the airport in the international sector during the ten-month period from April 2005 to January 2006 increased to 9,77,626 from 8,47,086 for the corresponding period during the last fiscal, thus registering a growth rate of 15.41 per cent.

The total number of incoming passengers in the international sector till January was 4,76,535 and the number of departing passengers stood at 5,01,091. Incoming passengers registered a growth rate of 13.17 per cent compared to the corresponding period for the last fiscal, while the growth rate in departing passengers was 17.62 per cent.

Aircraft movement

The growth in aircraft movement in the international sector was 13.29 per cent with the total aircraft movement increasing to 9,526 from 8,408 for the corresponding period during the last fiscal.

January was the busiest month in terms of passenger movement with a total of 1,23,736 passengers, 58,197 incoming and 65,539 outbound passengers, passing through the airport. December tops the list in terms of flight operations with 1,048 services, 524 arrivals and an equal number of departures.

Currently nine private international carriers are based in Kochi; Silk Air, Qatar Airways, Mahan Air, Emirates Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Oman Air, Gulf Air and SriLankan Airlines. Besides these private players, there are the public sector Air-India, Air-India Express and Indian.

There are also talks of the Sharjah-based Air Arabia, which currently operates out of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, coming to Kochi in the near future.

The domestic passenger movement also showed an upward swing during the period till January 2006. A growth rate of 17.74 per cent was registered with 5,86,426 passengers, 3,00,806 incoming and 2,85,620 outgoing passengers, availing the service of the Nedumbassery airport during the period from April 2005 to January 2006.

Compared to the corresponding ten-month period for the last fiscal, the total number of passengers increased by 88,351. The number of incoming passengers has gone up by 49,840 and that of outgoing passengers by 38,511.

The total flight movement reached 7,560 compared to 6,972 for the same period during the last fiscal, thus registering a growth rate of 8.43 per cent.

December tops the list both in terms of number of services operated and passenger handling. A total of 988 services; 494 arrivals and an equal number of departures, were operated during this month while 78,110 passengers, 41,339 inbound and 36,771 outbound passengers, passed through the airport.

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