M'lore: Bajpe Airport Likely to Start Handling Cargo Operations Soon

Raviprasad Kamila / The Hindu

• Union Government has issued a notification in this regard
• Surathkal and Gurupura hobils have been declared as 'to be a warehousing station'
• Airport to have duty-free shops within a week

Mangalore, Jul 17: The Union Government has issued a notification which will likely enable Bajpe (Mangalore) airport of the Airports Authority of India to handle cargo operations soon.

Official sources here have viewed this as a first step in realising the long-pending dream of the region.

The airport will have two duty-free shops within a week, as a result of the notification which is awaiting publication in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.

Air commuters will be able to buy imported goods such as liquor, tobacco, perfume, cosmetics, camera, watches, soft drinks, food products, pens and toys from the shops.

The airport authorities have been seeking permission to start cargo operations and establish duty-free shops for a long time.

Cargo operations are expected to improve the airport’s revenue, besides benefiting exporters and importers of the region and northern parts of Kerala.

Notification

The notification, issued by Heera Radhakrishnan, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Karnataka, declares Surathkal and Gurupura hoblies, in which the airport is located, as “to be a warehousing station”, under Section 9 of the Customs Act, 1962, M.R. Vasudeva, Director of the airport, told The Hindu.

Sources said that based on the notification the Customs Department might issue licences for setting up private and public warehouses in the limits of these hoblis.

Section 9 of the Act says, “The Board may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare places to be warehousing stations at which alone public warehouses may be appointed and private warehouses may be licensed.”

Meanwhile, Mangalore Customs Commissionerate issued licence to Flemingo Duty Free Shop Private Ltd. on July 11 to open duty-free shops at the airport.

The shops would be opened in the international arrival hall and in the international departure hall within a week, Mr. Vasudeva added.

New flight service

Mangalore will be connected to two more West Asian cities from July 17. The Air India Express will operate a flight to Sharjah and Kuwait from Thursday.

Presently, there are flight services from the city to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain and Muscat.