Kannur: Efforts are under way to make the opening ceremony of the Kannur International Airport (KIAL) on December 9 a grand celebration.
On the inaugural day, cultural programmes will begin from 8 am at the main stage. At 9 am, percussionist Mattannoor Sankarankutty Marar and his team will present 'kelikottu'.
The opening ceremony is scheduled to be held from 10 am.
Passengers who are flying by the inaugural flight will be brought from Vayathodu junction in a special vehicle. They will be asked to reach Vayathodu by 6.30 am. At the terminal building, the first passengers will be given a grand welcome. Check-in will begin from 7 am, said KIAL MD V Thulasidas.
Hoardings will be set up in all towns and district borders by KIAL. A procession will be organised on December 7 at Mattannoor, it was decided during a meeting of KIAL.
Sixty buses will be arranged to bring people who are coming to participate in the opening ceremony. Restrictions have been imposed on private vehicles on December 9 to avoid any traffic problems.
Private vehicles coming from Kannur and Thalassery sides will have to be parked at Panayathamparamb and those from Iritti side will have to halt at Mattannoor high school and polytechnic. From these spots and Mattannoor bus stand, people will be taken to the airport on the special buses. Around 40 KSRTC buses and 20 private buses have been arranged for this purpose.
Forty buses will be in service from Vayathod and 10 each from the other two places. Buses will ply every five minutes and passengers won't be charged.
The bus service will be available from 7 am till 10 am when the inaugural ceremony gets over. Only private vehicles that have KIAL entry passes will only be allowed inside the airport. The meeting also decided to provide drinking water for those turning up for the ceremony.
Ministers E P Jayarajan, K K Shailaja, A K Saseendran, Ramachandran Kadannappally, mayor E P Latha, MPs P K Sreemathi, K K Ragesh, district panchayat president K V Sumesh, collector Mir Muhammad Ali, Mattannoor municipal chairperson Anitha Venu, vice-chairman P Purushothaman, KIAL executive director K P Jose, Keezhallur panchayat president K Rajan, and other officialss took part in the meeting.
