Plans afoot to commission international courier cargo terminal, says Tiruchi Airport Director

Tiruchi Airport Director S. Gnaneswara Rao on Friday said plans were afoot to commission the international courier cargo terminal at the airport soon

Tiruchi Airport Director S. Gnaneswara Rao on Friday said plans were afoot to commission the international courier cargo terminal at the airport soon.

Discussions would be held immediately on whether it should be operated and maintained by AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Ltd. or through the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) mode in order to start the courier cargo terminal, Mr. Rao said.

Clearance from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) would have to be obtained and officials from the BCAS would inspect the facility at the Tiruchi airport to accord some approvals, he said.

Speaking to journalists at the airport after holding a meeting with stakeholders, including courier cargo agents on international courier cargo operations, Mr. Gnaneswara Rao said there was no issue with the Customs authorities as they had issued the notification for commencing international courier operations at the Tiruchi airport.

About the delay in commencing the courier cargo operations, Mr. Rao said although the Customs authorities had given its notification for international courier operations, there were no Customs notified agents here.

“During the discussion, we came to know that there were four agents who had registered with the Customs department. We got some feedback from the meeting and it would be taken up with the AAICLAS authorities in New Delhi,” he said and added that space was not a constraint for the courier cargo terminal at the airport. 

Mr. Rao said assurances had come from the agents to provide shipments and hence steps would be taken to start the operations soon.