KANNUR: Kerala’s fourth international airport, at Kannur, is ready for commercial operations. Boeing 737/800, Air India Express’ trial flight from Thiruvananthapuram, successfully touched down on its runway at 11.38 am on Thursday.
The trial landing — as mandated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation — was necessary for the Union Ministry to give green signal to start operations, said airport’s managing director V Thulasidas. He said more trial landing will be conducted by Indigo Airlines and SpiceJet, who had won bids to fly in and out from Kannur airport under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme. Smaller flights had landed at the greenfield airport, but it was the first time that a commercial aircraft landed here.
The aircraft hovered over the airport for about 45 minutes. “It landed after six approaches as part of the inspection of the security arrangements and other aspects,” said an officer.The runway is suitable for Boeing B-777 and Airbus A-330, and in future will be able to accommodate bigger aircrafts such as Airbus A-380.
The airport — built at a cost of Rs 2,292 crore and spread over 2,300 acres — is likely to be inaugurated next month. It is expected to cater to nearly 10 lakh passengers from Kannur, Kasargod, Wayanad districts in Kerala and Madikeri, Mysore and Dakshina Kannada districts in Karnataka. The number is estimated to rise five fold by 2025, they said.Kerala currently has international airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode.