Kochi, The Managing Director of the country's first airport under the public private partnership (PPP) basis on Saturday welcomed the latest decision announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to further relax Indian airspace restrictions for civilian flying and auctioning of six more airports on PPP basis.

V.J. Kurian, a former top bureaucrat of the Kerala government and presently the MD of the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), said the decision is a welcome move.

"CIAL in 1993 became the first PPP airport in the country and then we saw similar airports in Mumbai, Delhi and then came other major airports. There are 650 aircraft in the country owned by various airlines and each time they go abroad for maintenance, precious foreign exchange is lost. We at the CIAL started work for the hangar unit in 2006. I see this as a very good step. Once more details come in, we will know more," said Kurian.

The new decisions were part of the fourth tranche of announcements under the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.