Kerala state has become the first state in India to have four international airports with the inauguration of its Kannur International Airport on Sunday (9) here in Kannur.
The greenfield airport, constructed on a public-private-partnership model, stretches across over 2,000 acres of land at Mattanur, 25 kilometres away from Kannur town, the headquarter of Kannur district.
The newly inaugurated airport constructed at a cost of Rs 18.92 billion, with an integrated terminal for domestic and international passengers, six aerobridges, a 3,050 metre long runway. The airport is expected handle more than 1.5 million international passengers yearly.
The airport can manage up to 2,000 passengers during peak hours. The airport is also expected to cater the needs of Southernmost regions of Kerala’s neighbouring state, Karnataka.
The newly inaugurated airport is likely to serve the needs of the people of Northern regions of the state especially Kannur and Kasaragod. There are expectations that the newly commissioned airport could support to boost business activities in the region in the near future.
The new airport is a major and easy gateway for the thousands of non resident Indians (NRIs) working in the Middle East.
At present, India’s state owned, Air India and private air service provider GoAir have published their schedule of flights from the new airport, with more domestic airlines are likely to start their operations shortly.
India’s civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu and Kerala state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan jointly flagged off the inaugural Air India Express flight, carrying 186 passengers to Abu Dhabi, at the airport on Sunday morning.
The newly commissioned airport will help the non-resident Keralites (NRKs), especially in the Gulf countries, besides encouraging tourism and exports, which will result in several job opportunities, Suresh Prabhu said.
Kannur airport is Kerala’s fourth international airport besides, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode airports.
Lakshmi Mittal 
