Expanded Tiruchy airport to be major export hub

TIRUCHY: Identified as one of the 75 districts capable of developing as an export hub by Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries and accredited as the first non-metro airport in South India in Customer satisfaction survey, the Tiruchy airport, would soon get a major boost for export.

Exports of perishables like vegetables, fruits, flowers have constituted 85 per cent of the total volume of cargo in Tiruchy International Airport. Kuwait, Singapore, Dubai, Male, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo are main export destinations. The remaining 15 per cent are non-perishable commodities. Though Tiruchy cargo terminal is noted for handling high volume of perishables, currently, the volume of export of non-perishables is going up. The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries has a clear road map to develop Tiruchy as one of the export hubs.

“We all are waiting for the new terminal and the runway expansion works to finish. It would make the old terminal available for dedicated cargo movement as it was in 2011 when the passenger movement was made through the new terminal, the previous terminal was converted into cargo terminal which then increased the cargo tonnage remarkably,” said SA Sayeed, president of the Express Courier Operators Association.

He also said that the announcement to develop Tiruchy as one of the export hubs have lifted the spririts of exporters. “Though Tiruchy region is known for agricultural products in addition to flowers, the announcement of Tiruchy as a defence industrial corridor, the exports of non-perishable commodities too will go up,” he added.

“Many airlines, particularly from abroad, have started to understand the real potential of Tiruchy Airport. The city’s geographical location has been helping, as the town is getting international traffic from more than 10 districts,” said Moorthy, Branch Manager, Bravo Logistics Private Limited.

“The export market to Europe was still untapped for want of connectivity. If more airlines introduce services to Tiruchy, we can export more,” said Moorthy.

Active import facility to bring in better income by way of tax

Import of commodities are equally important as export as it would bring income through import duty or tax. There is also demand to expedite Plant Quarantine and, certification process. Since the slow progress in the Plant Quarantine (PQ) Department, the exporters expressed fear as they would lose lakhs of rupees as they cannot keep their perishable goods safe for more than a day. Sometimes, the plant quarantine officer even sends away the goods. Once the new terminal opened and a dedicated cargo service being operated, these offices would function round the clock and the certification process would be easier that would stop exporters approaching the other airports.

Dedicated cargo unit possible only after runway expansion: Aviation expert

While the passenger traffic has steadily been increasing at the Tiruchy International Airport, the cargo has started to show the graph in declining mode as there is no dedicated freight carriers operated from here. This has led the exporters started to show less interest to opt for Tiruchy airport for handling their consignment. “Only when the runway expansion is over, wide body flights would be able to land and most of the cargo flights are wide bodies and its not feasible for them to land at Tiruchy airport which is less than the mandatory length,” said Ubaidullah, aviation enthusiast. He claimed that Air Asia, Malindo Air, Tiger Airways and Sri Lankan Airlines have adequate wide bodied flights that would be converted as the dedicated cargo services. “This would certainly increase the cargo handling between 200 to 300 per cent,” Ubaidullah said.