Kannur International Airport to be inaugurated on December 9
Kannur International Airport, the second greenfield airport set up under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, near Mattannur in Kerala's Kannur district would be inaugurated on December 9. The date for the inauguration was fixed as Director General of Civil Aviation has accorded commercial flight operation license to the airport, a release from the office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said today. Here's more.
Built over 2,300 acres, airport would have 24 check-in counters
The airport, built in an area of 2,300 acres, will have a 3,050 meters long runway. Work to extend it to 4,000 meters has already begun, said officials. The airport would have 24 check-in counters, self-baggage drop counters, self-checking machines, and 32 immigration counters.
Kannur airport has space to park 20 aircraft
Work on seven aerobridges has been completed and the airport has arrangements to facilitate landing of big aircraft like Boeing 777. It has space to park 20 aircraft at a time. It will be the fourth international airport in Kerala, the others being in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode. Kannur airport is second to be built under PPP route after Nedumbassery International Airport at Kochi.
Construction of airport was inaugurated by AK Antony in 2014
The Kannur airport is only 20km away from Kannur city, and 2km from Mattannur. Construction of the airport, considered a flagship program of the previous Congress-led UDF government, was inaugurated by the then Defense Minister AK Antony on February 2, 2014. Among the objectives of the airport include transforming the North Malabar region into a highly developed growth center for travel, tourism, and industries.
