In a bid to avoid congestion in the entry/exit gates and approach roads and to ensure free flow of traffic in front of the terminal building, a new parking system and reduced parking fee have been introduced at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport.
Ending the practice of issuing token on entry and collecting the parking fee near the exit gates, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has come up with the new system that ensures hassle-free parking and eliminates congestion in front of the terminal and the approach roads.
The move is also expected to end the illegal parking of vehicles on roads near the airport.
Under the new system, the vehicles will have to be parked in the segregated parking bays in front of the terminal building. A token will be issued from the booth set up in the bay indicating the entry time, date and vehicle number.
The fee will be collected based on the duration of parking.
Fee reduction
The AAI has drastically reduced the parking fee for various classes of motor vehicles as part of encouraging parking on the airport premises itself.
No access fee will be collected from private vehicles and airport taxi that enter the arrival area to pick up the passengers.
Once a money spinner for the AAI, the parking revenue has fallen following the suspension of the flights due to the pandemic-induced lockdown, ban on international flights and less patronage on the domestic sector.
Firms were also reluctant to take up the parking contract.
The AAI has now entrusted the management of the parking bays and collection of the parking fee to the Kerala State Ex-servicemen Development and Rehabilitation Corporation (Kexcon).
The AAI will pay the wages of those deployed by the Kexcon and the parking fee collected from the bays will be handed over to the Terminal Manager of the AAI.
