Kannur International Airport To Open On 9th December 2018!
Kerala’s fourth international airport at Kannur is all set to open on 9th December 2018, following an approval by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL) Managing Director, V. Thulasidas confirmed the launched date, saying that “we are ready for operations”.
KIAL authorities are trying their best to see that commercial operations commence soon after the inauguration, but the Airport Authority of India will be deciding on that.
11 international carriers and 6 domestic airlines have already confirmed their decision to fly into KIAL.
The first trial operations were undertaken successfully at the airport on 20th September and a repeat rehearsal the following day, after which the DGCA finally gave their approval.
Here are some key features of the new greenfield airport:
- The Rs 1,892 crores airport is located at Mattanur, near Kannur. It is spread over 2,000 acres of land.
- At present, the length of the runway is 3,050 meters and work to extend the length of the runway to 4,000 meters has already begun.
- The swanky new airport has 24 check-in and 32 immigration counters.
- The Central Industrial Security Force will be in charge of the airport’s security operations.
- Kerala will be the only state in the country to have four international airports with the others at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode.
- It will also be the state’s largest international airport.
- the airport will be able to handle 2,000 passengers at a time and it is anticipated that KIAL will serve more than 1.5 million international passengers annually.