The Federal Bank has sanctioned a term loan of Rs. 500 crore to the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) for the construction of its new international terminal.
The agreement for the loan facility was signed by V.J. Kurian, managing director of CIAL, and Shyam Srinivasan, managing director and chief executive of Federal Bank, in the presence of senior executives of CIAL and Federal Bank at a ceremony held at the airport here on Friday.
The loan assistance, with a floating interest rate, will be for a term of 16 years with a moratorium of three years.
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The airport company has also commenced works on the terminal building, which will be established at a cost of Rs.977 crore.
It will have a built-up area of 15 lakh sq.ft with a peak hour capacity to handle 4,000 passengers, as against the present capacity of 1,200 passengers.
The terminal, which follows a finger pier design (where passengers are processed at the terminal location and then routed down a “pier” where aircraft are parked in the “finger” slots or gates for boarding), will facilitate handling of 13-15 aircraft during peak operations compared to five aircraft at present. Besides, there would be an elevated road approach to the departure level and a 25-metre-wide corridor with landscape and connectivity to departure.
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It will boast a string of six conveyor belts and a 18,000 sq.ft passenger exit lounge with two main exit points, in addition to a 2,000 sq.ft duty free shop, visitors’ waiting area and a meet-and-greet area.