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TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

Today took my young son spotting at COK. Cochin Airport visitors gallery was good as usual and not crowded. Entrance cost Rs 30 per head and there are good views over the international apron and the runway.

Just missed the arrival of the B747-400 VT-ESB "Velha Goa" from Jeddah and Calicut which was delayed by around 20 minutes . I always remember when I see the 747-400 at COK on its four weekly run from JED/CCJ about some members of ANet India going to HYD to do a farewell trip on the AI 747s on the HYD-BOM sector before AI showed its unpredictability . Air India Express B737 from Kuwait/Mangalore was also parked while two of the three early morning AIX a/c were parked at remote gates (the third one had already departed to BOM) . There was just one aircraft then in the domestic apron, SG 231 from DEL/HYD. It soon had company as SG 3241 , the Q400 from Chennai arrived . Tthe same a/c which would do the honours as SG 3901 to MLE .

Soon a 9W B737 , an Indigo A320 (6E 317) from DEL/HYD came in, SG 108 left for HYD and DEL and surprise of surprises another AIX B737 landed and parked a the Domestic apron although the international apron had only just two a/c.

The SG Q400 (to MLE), 9W B737 and 6E 314 (to HYD/DEL) left in that order one after the other and in between the SG 737s from DEL/PNQ and VTZ/BLR landed and it was time to say goodbye and go back home via the excellent Kerala SRTC airport volvo service which while far less frequent than the BMTYC services in BLR do run to time and costs a fraction of the BMTC ones especially for short distances.

Now for the real surprises.. The 9W B737 (9W 2731)was operated on the BLR-COK-TRZ route. (COK-TRZ on a 737 - Wow!). And the AIX aircraft which arrived and parked at the domestic apron was actually operating AI 509 the fairly long running flight from MAA which now apparently is operated by IX as a codeshare wtih a flight no of IX 3509 (yet another first for me - seeing an AI and AIX code share- this is as per the CIAL website).

And finally my biggest complaint about CIAL remains. The options for transport to/from the airport for the travelling public seem to be mostly tailored for the benefit of the airport taxi drivers. The airport has the main Trviandrum Bangalore/Chennai rail line passing through just outside the airport boundary wall. Indeed my son was alert enough to spot a lot of trains as well from the airport viewing gallery. However there is no airport rail station although trains to destinations as spread out as Rajkot, Jammu Tawi and Dibrugarh travel on the line. The otherwise excellent airport bus service is not allowed to touch the nearest railway stations and people are forced to take the airport taxis or arrange for their own vehicles. One thing is for sure , CIAL may win a lot of awards but an award for "going Green" is never in the pipeline for the foreseeable future!!!!

The_Goat · Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 7:55 pm Post subject: Re: Some spotting at COK

TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

Taxis in COK airport are reasonable for long trips but not for short ones. where it is a RIP OFF. The cost for a Non AC taxi to the Abad Airport Hotel (or the next door Courtyard Marriott) which is barely 1 Km for the airport or Alwaye and the nearer Angamaly railway stations is a very high 418 Rs as per the CIAL website. This is because a minimum charge of 22 km applies. THe answer as you suggest is shuttle services to the two railway stations but with the ground realities in Kerala it will remain a dream as usual.

There is no need for an airport extension of the railway line. The rail line runs adjacent to the airport and has been around long before the current airport was even at the planning stage (the old COK airport was the naval airport at Willingdon ilsland which had a civil enclave). All it was needed for the airport planners was to make provision for an airport rail station. Why it was never done for what is otherwise an excellent airport (and one of the first major non AAI owned airports in the country) is a mystery ,at least to me.