As part of efforts to facilitate the hassle-free movement of domestic passengers inside the terminal, the Cochin International Airport has decided to open check-in counters three hours prior to departures from Tuesday. All check-in counters at the domestic terminal will be functioning three hours prior to the departure, says a press release here.
CIAL handles 30,000 passengers a day. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Securities had instructed the security agencies to strengthen security examination procedures. Long queues would be formed at the security hall and there were chances that last-minute passengers missed the flight, said the airport authority.
A review meeting was held at the airport and all the airlines were instructed to open domestic check-in counters three hours prior to the departure instead of two hours. International check-in counters normally start functioning three hours prior to the departures. CIAL has requested all passengers to make use of the facility and avoid last-minute rush at the security hall.
The airport handled 10 million passengers for the second financial year last year despite closure of operations for 15 days due to the floods in August 2018. The total passenger volume handled by all the airports in the State in 2018-19 is close to 1.65 crore and CIAL’s share stands at over 1 crore. Of the 1.02 crore passengers who travelled through CIAL, 52.68 lakh travelled in the domestic sector.