Trichy airport notified for courier cargo

The ministry of finance has notified Trichy international airport for international courier cargo movement through its letter 74 of 2013 dated July 12. This means that the express cargo industry will benefit largely, and people will have the facility to send personal gifts, documents, and small parcels across the globe without the hassle of going through the customs formalities that would now be taken care of by courier firms for a small fee. The Trichy customs commissioner will soon formally issue a notification and release a formal order based on the Central notification.

While the news was greeted with much enthusiasm by the express industry, the Airport Authority refused to comment. The AAI now has to make available the infrastructure for quick clearance of courier cargo. But at present, the Trichy international airport does not even boast a restaurant for the visiting public, no facility even for recharge of electronic gadgets, no touch screens to know flight information, no round-the-clock currency exchange, and no aid for medical help.

S A Sayeed, director of ABS Xpress, who has been fighting for the notification since 2009 told TOI that it was great news because it was he who was asked to give a formal letter of requisition in January 2010 by the Centre. There were many hurdles to be cleared, since the formal letter itself was said to have been lost after six months.

Interestingly, if Malindo lands in Trichy in the near future as proposed, and when AirAsia launches its third daily service in August between Trichy to Kuala Lumpur as announced, the total seat capacity would be more than Chennai-KL sector, now the busiest route in the sector. Meanwhile, Trichy-KL route, the second busiest route is already ahead of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Cochin in this particular sector.

Source