DK FlipBook-Magzter January 2019

INFRASTRUCTURE / Kannur International Airport
KANNUR FINDS A PLACE ON
THE AVIATION MAP OF INDIA
With the commissioning of the Kannur International Airport, Kerala has
become the only State in the country to have four International Airports
When the Boeing 737
flight of Air India Express
took off for Abu
Dhabi from Kannur International
Airport on December 9, it was a
dream-come-true moment for the
people of Malabar who have been,
for years, dependent on Calicut International
Airport to travel abroad
or to other domestic destinations.
Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for
Civil Aviation and Pinarayi Vijayan,
Kerala Chief Minister jointly flagged
off the first flight from the airport,
making Kerala the only State in the
country having four International
Airports. The duo also inaugurated
the terminal building by lighting the
traditional lamp in the presence of
thousands of people who came to
watch the milestone event.
E P Jayarajan, Kerala Minister for
Industries and Commerce, who is
also the legislator representing Mattannur
Assembly constituency in
which the airport is located, presided
over the inaugural ceremony.
Delivering the inaugural address,
the Chief Minister congratulated
the people of Kannur for having
extended wholehearted support in
completing the project. “A big salute
to the people who stood with the
government in implementing developmental
initiatives,” he said.
“Kannur International Airport
will be a boon for the people residing
along the Mysore-Koyilandy
stretch. Roads connecting the
airport with these places will be
developed soon. The government
will provide reasonable compensation
to the people whose land has
been acquired for development
purposes,” he said and added that
further development would not be
possible in the absence of good road
connectivity.
The Chief Minister expressed
hope that the Central Government
would allow the State to take up the
operations of Kannur International
Airport and added that the State is
also willing to take up the operations
of Calicut International Airport at
Karipur. The Chief Minister said this
while alluding to the recent decision
of the Ministry of Civil Aviation
(MoCA) to privatise Trivandrum
International Airport.
Congratulating the Kerala Government
for its consistent effort to set
up the airport, Suresh Prabhu said
that Kannur Airport has established
an ideal model for development.
“The airport has become a gateway
to development. It is an example
of how the State and the Centre can
work in unison to achieve development.
It is a laudable fact that the
construction of the airport was completed
keeping in mind the avenues
for its future expansion,” the Union
Civil Aviation Minister said.
The World Bank estimates that
non-resident Indians would contribute
$80 billion to the country’s
economy. “The lion’s share of that
contribution comes from the people
of Kerala working abroad. Hence,
it is only fair to take steps to make
their home-bound journey hasslefree,”
the Minister added.
“There are several tourist destinations
in Karnataka and Kerala
that are easily accessible from the
airport. Commissioning of KIAL
will give a fresh impetus to the tourism
activities in areas like Coorg,
Wayanad and Kozhikode. Hence, we
will make all possible efforts to start
more services,” said V Thulasidas
IAS (Retd.), MD, KIAL.
Procedures to acquire land for
the airport began in 2008. So far the
State Government has acquired 2300
acres of land for KIAL. Although the
estimated expenditure for the airport
was pegged at Rs. 1820 crore, it overshot
by Rs. 500 crore as on December
9, 2018, according to Thulasidas.
Extension of runway and construction
of a cargo complex are the other
projects in the pipeline, he said.
State Ministers E Chandrasekharan,
Ramachandran Kadannappally, K
K Shailaja, A K Saseendran and K
Krishnankutty, and Union Civil
Aviation Secretary R N Choubey
IAS were among the dignitaries
present on the occasion. DK
January 2019 • Destination Kerala / 21