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Chandy vows improved service at Kerala airport By Indo-Asian News Service
Thiruvananthapuram, March 17 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Thursday assured the state assembly that he would initiate steps to make the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) more passenger-friendly.
Chandy was replying to a calling attention motion by legislator Umesh Challiyil, who said passengers returning from the Middle East faced heavy demurrage charges by the CIAL warehouse.
"There is no demurrage for the first five days and then for each day, the charges go up. If there is a delay of 25 days, for every kilogram a demurrage of Rs.53 is charged," said Challiyil.
Chandy, also CIAL chairman, added: "We would certainly look into what can be done to increase the grace period from the present five days to a convenient period. We will also look into improving the employees' attitude towards passengers."
Mac Ali, another legislator, tild IANS the other two state airports have a longer grace period before which demurrage charges are levied.
Challiyil told IANS: "When I came from Dubai last month, I had to wait for nearly two hours." Only when he disclosed his identity was he accorded "good" treatment.
CIAL is the country's first privately funded airport. Its performance has improved and the airport is in the process of writing off its earlier losses.
