CIAL to appoint consultant

Move to set up aircraft maintenance hangar.

The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) will appoint a consultant to prepare a feasibility report on the proposed Rs 150-crore aircraft maintenance hangar adjacent to Nedumbassery airport.

According to Sriram Bharath, managing director, CIAL, the consultant would be appointed within 3-4 months and a separate subsidiary company, Cochin International Aviation Limited, has already been registered for executing the project.

Addressing a press conference after the director board meeting of the company, he said that CIAL would also consider the proposal of a separate airline, Air Kerala.

The company wanted relaxation from the civil aviation rules to operate in the Gulf sector from day one of operation.

The ministry of civil aviation has rejected the plea as any new airline should have at least five years experience in domestic operations. He added that the state chief minister who is also the chairman of CIAL would take up the issue with the Union government again.

"We are hopeful of getting exemption", he said.