By Ashraf Padanna/Kochi

Kerala will soon become the first Indian state to run its own airline if everything goes well, according to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), which runs the country’s first corporate airport in the port city of Kochi, has already incorporated a company to operate the airline, Air Kerala Limited, with the chief minister as its chairman.
The state is also pressing for waivers on the conditions of the aviation ministry that the company should have at least five years of domestic flying experience and a fleet of 20 aircraft to launch a low-cost carrier.
“Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has agreed to relax both these conditions. Now we are going ahead with the project, which will be a great relief for thousands of our workers in the Gulf,” Chandy said. “It is one of our dream projects.”
The chief minister was speaking at an event after laying the foundation stone for the new international terminal here, which will make it one of the best airports in India capable of handling the A380 aircraft.
The 1.5mn sq-ft terminal to be built at a cost of Rs8bn will be more than three times the size of the existing facility.
The CIAL also launched an integrated airport management system placing it in the elite league of modern airports having the facility for centralised airport operational data management as well as an enterprise resource planning environment.
“We have also decided to improve road connectivity to the airport,” said Chandy, who is the chairman of the airport company.
Also yesterday, the airport launched an 18-hole golf course, aviation security training institute, a solar power plant, a new 32,000 sq ft. duty free warehouse and a golf academy.
“CIAL model is a subject of study at Oxford and Cambridge as an infrastructure project to offer dividend to the investors within a short span of three years in operation,” said Gulf-based Indian entrepreneur Yusuffali M A, one of the founder-directors of the company.   
The new terminal with an elevation featuring Kerala temple architecture will have all the latest features conforming to international standards. Construction major Larsen & Toubro is building the facility which will be ready within 30 months.