Minister for Excise and Ports K. Babu inaugurated the covered alighting and boarding area for passengers at the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) here on Monday.
Delivering his inaugural address, Mr. Babu said that the Kochi airport was only the third airport in the country to have such a facility after Delhi and Bangalore airports.
He said that the covered facility will enable the passengers to proceed to and depart from the terminals without getting drenched in rain.
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The facility was set up by the airport company at a cost of about Rs. 6.50 crore.
Mr. Babu said that the Kochi airport will be brought to international standards with a state-of-the-art terminal for international passengers. This was a decision taken at a recent meeting of CIAL board of directors.
The minister said that the new international terminal will be set up at a cost of Rs. 600 crore, the tender for which will be floated in January next year. He said that the work would be finished in three years.
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The approach road to the airport will be widened and made into a four-lane road for which the work has already been started.
Anwar Sadat and Jose Thettayil, MLAs; K.P. Dhanapalan, MP; and Angamaly Municipal Chairman C.K. Varghese were among those present.