Bajpe Airport Likely to Start Handling Cargo Operations Soon

Mangalore: 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.
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.
17/07/08 Raviprasad Kamila/The Hindu

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Jul 2008