Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has today touched a milestone of handling one crore passengers this year. The record was achieved on Thursday, 21 st December evening, when 173 passengers boarded an IndiGo flight to Bangalore. This achievement solidifies CIAL as the only airport in Kerala and the fourth in South India to host over one crore passengers annually.
CIAL manages 63.50 percent of the total air passengers in the state. Comparing figures to the previous year, CIAL witnessed a substantial increase of over 20 lakhs in passenger numbers. Out of the one crore passengers this year, 54.04 lakh were domestic travellers, and 46.01 lakh were international passengers. A total of 66,540 flight services operated during this period. 80.23 lakh passengers travelled through CIAL in the year of 2022, with a total of 57,006 flight operations.
"This achievement is a reflection of the efforts made by CIAL in infrastructure development and airport marketing," commented Kerala Chief Minister and CIAL Chairman Sri. Pinarayi Vijayan in his special message during the celebration event conducted as a gesture of gratitude to the passengers. “In an era when corporates are taking over the management of the country's airports, the excellence achieved by CIAL gives hope to the public sector. The management is hopeful that not less than one crore passengers will travel through this airport in the coming years also. The government has instructed CIAL to facilitate the development of essential facilities for the same”, he added.
Five-year-old Leyah Rinosh, a native of Kottayam and a passenger on the IndiGo flight from Kochi to Bangalore, became the 10 millionth passenger of CIAL in the year 2023. CIAL Managing Director S. Suhas IAS presented a special memento to Leyah Rinosh, capturing the essence of this momentous occasion.
CIAL Executive Directors Saji.K.George, Jayarajan V., CIAL Commercial Head Joseph Peter, CISF, Senior Commandant Suneeth Sharma, and other dignitaries graced the occasion.