Kochi: Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) director A C K Nair will serve his last day in office on Tuesday following a 22-year stint at the airport.
Nair, who joined CIAL from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) in 2000, was made Airport Director in 2004. His 18-year tenure as director marks a record in the country.
Key role in modernising CIAL
Nair played a key role in the modernisation of CIAL. In the past several years, he pivoted many a project identified by the management, which set new benchmarks in airport operations, including the installation of an integrated airport management system, an innovative power distribution system, and India’s first CT-based baggage screening system in Kochi Airport. His leadership was instrumental in making Kochi Airport one of the best in the country and helped the operator in finding new revenue streams.
A BTech graduate from the Trivandrum College of Engineering, Nair was deputed to CIAL in 1996 while he was working as the regional head of the electrical division of the AAI. CIAL was then in its besieged formative years and struggling to build an airport from scratch.
Technical prowess, leadership qualities made CIAL a reality
His technical knowledge and leadership qualities enabled CIAL to surmount many challenges in the initial years of the project. On completion of the project, he was compelled to continue with the airport and subsequently took over the charge of deputy general manager-electrical in 2000 and became the airport director in 2004.
He secured an MBA while in service and also served as the Asia Pacific director of the Airport Council International, a forum of airport operators, for six years.
In addition to being the director of Kochi Airport, Nair was in charge of electrical, IT, cargo, fire and security, and was also the managing director of Cochin International Aviation Services Limited.
Nair hails from Thiruvananthapuram and worked with Indian Telephone Industries Limited for two years before joining AAI.