Exporters despatching cargo from the Tiruchi international airport may not be affected by vagaries of weather soon as construction of a canopy in front of the air cargo terminal has been set in motion.
Heeding persistent demand from the stakeholders, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) recently awarded contract for the establishment of a canopy in front of the air cargo terminal after according approval for the project.
A puja to mark the commencement of the canopy construction work was performed at the Tiruchi airport on Monday with the airport authorities targeting its completion in three months before the onset of the monsoon season. The canopy project would be executed at a cost of Rs. 38 lakh in front of the air cargo terminal which was commissioned in 2011.
With air cargo export volume on the upswing over the years, exporters felt the need for the establishment of a canopy so that their commodities did not get spoilt while being offloaded at the cargo terminal during monsoon season.
The need for canopy was raised in various cargo forums by the stakeholders based on which the airport authorities here forwarded a proposal to their higher ups seeking approval for the facility to commensurate with the added volume handling.
In the absence of a covered canopy, the exporters were finding it difficult while offloading the cargo — both during summer and rainy days. Airport sources said the canopy would provide protection to goods carriers arriving in front of the air cargo terminal and while offloading them.
A senior official said the plan was to complete the project in three months before the rainy season commenced.
On an average, around 14 to 15 tonnes of cargo was despatched from the Tiruchi international airport to different overseas destinations including Colombo, Kuwait, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Seoul through various foreign airlines.
Perishable commodities such as assorted vegetables, fruits, and flowers account for 95 per cent of the cargo despatched from Tiruchi.
The cargo was despatched in the existing belly space available in the overseas passenger flights from Tiruchi. The traders fraternity is of the view that if added infrastructure such as Electronic Data Interchange, more handling equipment, further storage area, food stuff certifying authority, drug clearance agency for pharma products and new airline service connectivity to West Asian countries were to be in place at Tiruchi airport, it would provide a quantum jump in freight traffic on a larger scale.