THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was almost certain that the operation of wide-bodied aircraft from Calicut International Airport would be suspended soon after the aircraft accident at the airport. The DGCA has asked the Saudi Arabian Airlines and Air India which were operating wide-bodied aircraft to the airport to switch its operations to Cochin International Airport on Sunday in the wake of the accident involving Air India Express aircraft which overshot the runway, killing as many as 18 passengers.
Now the DGCA made clear that the operation of wide-body aircraft at Calicut airport would be suspended at least till the end of the monsoon season.
The aviation regulator will conduct a special audit of reports of airports that receive heavy rainfall during monsoon in the backdrop of the aircraft accident in Calicut airport.
It is not clear whether the operation of wide-bodied aircraft would be resumed soon after the monsoon in Kerala where the south west monsoon withdraws by September 30.
Though no date was fixed on the resumption of services, the DGCA is expected to take a call on this matter only after the monsoon and considering the preliminary report of the aircraft accident investigation bureau into the Calicut air crash incident.
Though the aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing narrow-bodied aircraft, the operation of wide-bodied aircraft from Calicut airport was also a matter of contention for about one decade.
After various reports by experts, the operation of wide-bodied aircraft was suspended at the airport from May 2015 in the wake of the Court of Inquiry report on the Mangaluru air crash.
Later, the DGCA gave the nod for the operation of the wide-bodied aircraft with several riders in 2018 December.
The permission was granted after huge public protest and pressure from political parties.
Ahead of resuming the services, the airport has also re-carpeted the runway and widened the length of Runway End Safety Area (RESA), one of the imperatives for operating wide-bodied aircraft, from 90 to 240 metres.
Now with the DGCA suspending the operation of wide-bodied aircraft without fixing any date for the resumption of services, uncertainty looms large over the future of the airport for which the operation of wide-bodied aircraft especially during the time of Haj pilgrimage constitutes a good share of its annual revenue.