Cargo in Trichy Airport from Sept.

The Air Cargo Complex at Tiruchi airport will commence operations from the second week of September, according to S. Dharmaraj, Airport Director.

The AAI will call for tenders and work on modification of old terminal building for cargo operations is expected to start in the last week of this month. After completion of the work, the area will be inspected and notified by the Commissioner of Customs. Cargo operations will commence once Customs Custodianship is granted, Mr. Dharmaraj told press persons on Wednesday.

At present, a monthly average of 300 tonnes of perishable products, fruits, flowers and vegetables, were being exported from Tiruchi Airport to countries in the South East and Middle East, he said, projecting potential to increase handling capacity to 2,000 metric tonnes per month in two year's time.

Mr. Dharmaraj also informed that 64 CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) surveillance cameras installed from city side to the air side would be put to operation from this month-end. To a query, he said the new Air Traffic Control Tower and a technical block have been planned on the acquired land that the State Government would hand over for airport expansion.

For the winter schedule starting from October 28, Spice jet has applied for ‘18.00 hrs arrival and 18.30 hrs departure slot' to operate on the Chennai-Tiruchi-Chennai sector, and Kingfisher airlines has applied for ‘20.05 hrs arrival and 20.30 hrs departure slot' on the Bangalore-Tiruchi-Bangalore sector. The applications were subject to DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) regulations.

Tiger Airways that now operates daily flights would increase its frequency of operation to 11 flights per week from September 5. The frequency would go up further to 14 flights per month in the winter schedule, Mr. Dharmaraj said.