CM Pinarayi Vijayan meets Suresh PrabhuNew Delhi: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday urged Union civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu to allow international flights to operate from Kannur Airport, slated to begin operations in September this year.
In a representation submitted to Prabhu, the CM said the long standing demand of the people of Malabar was to set up an international airport to cater to the huge number of Keralites working mainly in the Gulf.
The civil aviation ministry is reportedly mulling to restrict flight operations in KIAL to domestic sector. The CM's representation comes in the wake of such a move.
The move is aimed at making key airports – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad – major international hubs.
The civil aviation ministry has to declare Kannur Airport as a “Point of Call', a demand made in the CM's representation, if international operations are to be allowed.
Once completed the apron of the airport will have parking bays for 14 Code E aircraft or 20 Code C aircraft.The airport, built by the state government as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) along with central and state public sector units as well as individual investors, would serve as a catchment area spanning north Kerala and some districts in the neighbouring state of Karnataka, Pinarayi pointed out in the representation.
Dwelling on the economic and commercial benefits of allowing international flights from the airport, Pinarayi pointed out that the airport, for which the state government has committed Rs 3,000 crore, would serve as a hub to export vegetables, fruits and flowers, textile products, high-value handicrafts.
The airport is designed to fly all types of aircraft and is equipped with state-of-the art navigational aids. The runway is also being extended to 4,000 metres.
Though airline carriers from the Gulf as well as South East Asia have evinced keen interest to operate from Kannur, foreign airlines require special bilateral rights to operate from greenfield airports.
The CM's representation said the purpose of the Kannur International Airport Limited itself would be defeated if international flights are not allowed to operate from the beginning itself.
The CM's representation said the purpose of the Kannur International Airport Limited itself would be defeated if international flights are not allowed to operate from the beginning itself.The Karipur International Airport was given an exemption by the civil aviation ministry to operate international flights from its inception.
Pinarayi also sought the civil aviation minister's intervention to permit more domestic carriers to operate international carriers from Kannur.
Prabhu has responded positively to the proposal, sources told Onmanorama.
Fourth international airport
The airport, located at Mattanur, near Kannur, is fast nearing completion in 2,000 acres of land.
With this, Kerala will be the only state in the country to have four international airports with the others at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
The Kerala government owns 35 per cent stake, 25 per cent is held by by public sector undertakings, The Airport Authority of India holds ten percent and the remaining 30 per cent is with Cooperatives, banks and individual shareholders.
The first trial operation of the KIAL took place in February 2016, when an Indian Air Force aircraft landed for the first time at the airport and was received by then chief minister Oommen Chandy.
Once completed the apron of the airport will have parking bays for 14 Code E aircraft or 20 Code C aircraft.
The airport will be able to handle at a time 2,000 passengers and it is anticipated that KIAL will serve more than 1.5 million international passengers annually.
This airport will start off with a runway of 3,050 metres and in another 18 months after it opens, it will see its runway length increase to 3,400 metres and eventually it will touch 4,000 metres, making it one of the four biggest airports in the country, an official said.
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