THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Calling for retaining Karipur status as a category 9 airport, the CPM urged the Centre to backdown from the move which saw the airport being downgraded to category 7.
CPM state chief Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who registered the party’s strong protest against the Centre’s move, demanded the Union Government’s immediate intervention to restore Karipur’s category 9 status.
“With the new decision, Boeing 747 aircraft will not be able to operate services from here. Henceforth, smaller aircraft which can accommodate only upto 180 passengers can operate services from here. This will pose major hardships to the kin of those working in the GCC countries as many of them are from the Malabar region,” Kodiyeri said while accusing the Centre of vindictiveness towards the airport.