THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The flood which caused a loss of Rs 336 crore to the Cochin International Airport is likely to push the commissioning of the Kannur International Airport Ltd to next month. The authorities were working hard to commission the airport by September last. A senior officer in the state administration said the commissioning of the airport would be extended to next month as the airport is yet to submit the data and documents regarding the calibration of navigation equipment by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The incessant rain in the month of July and August delayed the calibration of various navigation equipment. It an international practice to submit and publish the documents regarding the calibration data to ICAO before the commissioning of the airport. Meanwhile, a Boeing 737-800 of Air India Express trial landed at Kannur International Airport on Thursday and the aircraft successfully docked with one of the passenger boarding bridges.
The test flights were performed in the wake of the calibration of the Doppler Very High-Frequency Omni-Directional Range (DVOR), a standard ground-based radio navigational aid.
Similarly, officials from the Aerodrome Standards Directorate in the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) carried out an overall inspection of the airport on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of issuing aerodrome licence. The DGCA licence is required to commence operations, which will be followed by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security’s (BCAS) inspection for security clearance.
KIAL is expected to miss the date slated for commissioning this month. Another senior officer with the state administration said the state government asked the Louis Berger Consulting Company which conducted a techno-economic feasibility study and environmental impact assessment of the proposed greenfield airport at Sabarimala, to submit a detailed feasibility airport to the government which will bring clarity to the investment to be made for the project.
But it is not known whether the post-flood scenario would delay the project for a while in the event of financial austerity measures adopted by the government. Further, the flood has necessitated a retrospection of some of the aviation projects like airstrips announced earlier as the sites identified for the projects were inundated in the flood.