New scanner at Tiruchi airport

It will examine general cargo dispatched through the export air cargo terminal

A canopy established in front of the export cargo terminal at Tiruchi airport.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has procured a new scanner to examine general cargo dispatched through the export air cargo terminal at the Tiruchi international airport amid steady rise in overseas freight movements.

The imported scanner would soon be commissioned at the export cargo terminal.

Relief to stakeholders

The procurement of a new scanner comes as a huge relief to the stakeholders as the existing scanner had become very old leading to frequent malfunctioning much to the discomfiture of the shippers.

Airport sources said the new scanner costing ₹83 lakh and manufactured in the United States was expected to be commissioned next week.

Although the old scanner would act as a standby once the new one was put to use, it would continue to be used for scanning general cargo being shipped through the Tiruchi airport.

This was because of heavy freight movement especially during night when many overseas flights to different destinations depart from Tiruchi airport.

The demand for a new scanner had been there for quite some time as the airport witnesses hectic activity due to bunching of overseas passenger flights in the night.

Perishables especially vegetables, fruits and flowers account for bulk of the general cargo dispatched from Tiruchi to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait and other countries in West Asia. Air Asia tops in respect of cargo uplift from Tiruchi airport among other overseas carriers.

Rise in overseas freight

The overseas freight handled at Tiruchi airport has seen a marked rise from a little over 2,000 metric tonnes in 2011-12 to more than 6,600 metric tonnes during the 2015-16 financial year.

The target set for the current fiscal (2016-17) is 7,000 metric tonnes.