EMPLOYMENT POTENTIAL

• This International Airport Project will generate direct employment to 1500 and indirect employment to more than 6000.

INFLUENTIAL ZONE

• Airport location is close to multiple tourism destinations such as Kumarakom, the backwaters of Alappuzha and high ranges of Kumily & Thekkady tiger reserve.
• Only one hour drive away from ‘Sabarimala’, the second largest pilgrim centre in India with annual pilgrims of around 60 Millions (as per Government data for the year 2011) and the proposed Airport will provide infrastructure to pilgrims who wish to travel by air.
• The majority of NRI passengers and NRK passengers of Trivandrum & Kochi Airport originate within 50 K.Ms. radius of this site. 40% of the Kerala air traffic is hailing from the influential zone of the airport.
• It is expected to serve four districts in Kerala state namely Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki and Alappuzha. This shall be referred as influential zone. Out of the foreign and domestic tourists’ arrival to Kerala, these four districts together accounts for about 21 per cent of foreign tourists and 14 per cent domestic tourists.

TRAFFIC

• Forecast of Indian air traffic concluded that the domestic passenger throughput would grow at an average annual rate of around 12% between FY-12 and FY-17. The domestic passenger throughput is expected to touch around 209 million by FY-17 from 106 million in FY-11. Similarly, international passenger throughput is estimated to grow at an average annual rate of 8% to reach 60 million passengers by FY-17 from 38 million in FY-11.
• Global comparison of air travel penetration shows that India (at 0.04 air-trips per capita per annum i.e. 4 out of 100 is travelling by air every year) stands far behind the developed countries like US and Australia (2 air-trips per capita per annum). China’s domestic traffic is five times the size of India’s despite having a population just 10% larger. There is significant growth potential as high as 50 times for the Indian civil aviation industry as economy grows, disposable incomes rise and the value of time becomes more precious.
• Eventhough Kerala has only 2.75% on overall population of India, the International aircraft movement in Kerala is 15.28% of overall international aircraft movement of India in the year 2011- 12.
• During the year 2011-12, the total number of air passenger to Kerala is 97.42 Lakhs out of 16.23 Crores air passengers in throughout India. It means 6% of overall air passenger of India hails from Kerala.
• Air Traffic has multiplied 5 times in the last 8 years in Kerala. It has increased from 2 Million to 10 Million passengers.
• Kochi, Trivandrum and Kozhikode Airports in Kerala are ranked as the 7th, 11th and 13th busiest Airport in the country respectively.
• In all the other three southern states (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka), one airport viz. Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore is catering to 80% of the airtraffic of the state. But in Kerala, the air traffic is evenly spread over to all 3 existing airports.