Consequent to the demerging and corporatisation of Cargo Department of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) into an independent organisation, the Tiruchi airport authorities will soon keep users and stakeholders in this part of the region informed about the new entity.
A local notification is in the process of being issued by the Tiruchi airport authorities here regarding the transformation of the Cargo wing of the AAI into a separate entity. This is being done following instructions from the AAI headquarters to all airports managed by it where cargo terminal functions.
The Cargo department was demerged and corporatized into a functionally and administratively independent organisation christened ‘AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited’ (AAICLAS) last year by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The AAICLAS will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the AAI with a vision to become the foremost logistics integrated network in the country, according to the company’s website.
18 airports
Export cargo terminals are functioning at 18 AAI-managed international airports across the country including Chennai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad, Calicut, Mangalore, Amritsar and Goa.
The AAICLAS, according to the website, will promote, represent, organise, undertake, own, establish, conduct, handle, operate, participate, facilitate, sponsor, encourage and provide the business as cargo terminal operator.
A chief executive officer from airlines background has been appointed at the corporate headquarters.
With the transformation of the Cargo department into a wholly-owned company of the AAI, revenue and expenditure would be accounted separately, said the sources.
The users and stakeholders in this part of the region would be kept informed about the new development through a local notification that is being issued, said a senior airport official.
New system
New billing system along with the logo of the AAICLAS would be introduced at the international air cargo terminal here coinciding with the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July, said the sources. It is expected that the new entity would foray into many other allied areas of operations in future.
The corporatisation of the Cargo department was done keeping in mind the importance of air cargo and its impact on the overall economy of the country, the AAICLAS website further said.
Export cargo terminal at the non-metro Tiruchi international airport was commissioned in 2011 with about 20 metric tonnes of freight being shipped to various overseas destinations every day in the available belly space of foreign airlines operating from Tiruchi.
The international cargo growth had witnessed a steady rise at the Tiruchi airport with the figures touching over 6,900 tonnes in the 2016-17 financial year. Perishable commodities including vegetables account for the bulk exported from Tiruchi airport through five foreign carriers to different foreign destinations.
