Willingdon Island

control of the transport hub was transferred from the british empire to india in 1947, when the latter gained independence.[2] during its short colonial tenure the island had handled at most one million tons of freight, by 1960 this had almost doubled.[2] the island aerodrome was extensively developed and became the city's modern airport. nowadays cochin has an international airport at nedumbassery,[3] 30 km north-east of the city, while the airstrip on the island turned into the naval air station ins garuda. the remaining space on the island was quickly utilized in the 1950s, and far from being an unnatural appendage of the picturesque and ancient city, the isle, left behind by the british so soon after its completion, became the commercial heart of the ancient metropolis of cochin.