KOCHI: The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) could the best in Kerala but it cuts a sorry figure when compared infrastructure-wise to other international airports in the country. It’s the fourth busiest airport in India.Step into the arrival lounge at the domestic and international terminals and you see crowds holding on to the barricade and stretching out to locate the ones to be received and rows of people behind them. Among them are the elderly and women with toddlers who yearn for a seat that’s nowhere near.One can go inside the terminal for a `50 ticket, but if all the persons waiting outside opt to take tickets, they would have to stand inside too as there are only few seats in there. “It’s difficult to wait in the crowd and we have to strain a lot or else we may miss the passenger who is to be received,” said Mathew Thomas who missed the person he had to meet.The international terminal has about 80 seats at the departure area and 30 seats at arrival and a lesser number of seats adorn the domestic terminal.Another problem is the dearth of good cafeterias. The canteen functions only till 8.30 pm while the airport is open round the clock. The charge at the coffee bars is on par with any international airport but the quality of food is bad, said Annie Ninan who landed from the US.Parking is another area to be addressed. The fee is high but the facilities are poor. Automated parking facilities in airports outside the state are yet to be implemented in CIAL. The staff parking area is far-off sans security, said an airport employee. In terms of space, CIAL is on a par with other airports. Facilities will be developed soon, said CIAL director A C K Nair.“We did place rows of chairs at the arrival lounge but people misused them, they would even stand on them to look out for passengers. So we moved the chairs to the western side and an area between the arrival and departure area,” he said. They are not sufficient though.“We are planning to modify the airport. The alighting point will be covered. A multi-cuisine food court will be opened within three months. An agency operating in other international airports has bagged the contract,” he said. The CIAL canteen will be redone within a year, he said. As for parking, we did have a trial run of automated parking facilities which was a failure due to the poor parking etiquette of the people here. The parking issue will be looked into and steps for automation will be taken, he said.
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