Kannur, Sep 20: An Air India Express flight landed successfully at Kannur International Airport on Thursday as part of trial operations at the new airport.
The 189 seater Air India Express flight (Boeing 737-800) departed from Thiruvanthapuram Airport at 0945 hrs, reached the terminal station around 1030 hrs and touched the runway at 1130 hrs.
Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL) Managing Director V Thulasidas and other officials received the flight crew at the Airport.
Built at a cost of Rs 2,292 crore and spread over 2,300 acres, the airport is expected to serve more than one million passengers annually and authorities estimate the number will increase five-fold by 2025.
The airport has a runway suitable for Code E aircraft, like the Boeing B-777 and Airbus A-330. It will be extended later for the operation of Code F aircraft, like Airbus A-380. The integrated 95,000 sq m terminal building, the eighth largest in India, has been built with state-of-the-art facilities.
The Kannur airport is expected to benefit residents of the state working in Middle East, as many are from the Malabar region. Among the tourist destinations expected to gain from the airport becoming operational are Coorg and Mysore in Karnataka, as well as Kerala’s hilly districts like Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasargod.
The airport has received a LEED gold rating for energy and environment conservation and has a solar power system. While a 7-MW plant has been installed presently, the capacity will be increased to 10 MW in the coming years.
Domestic destinations will be connected by private carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet, who won the bids under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme.
Domestic destinations from the airport will include Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Hubballi, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Solapur and Hindon (Ghaziabad). The state already has airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode.
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