Long wait is over, Kannur airport begins operations

KANNUR: The prolonged wait for the Kannur International Airport Ltd (Kial) came to an end on Sunday, when chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union minister for civil aviation Suresh Prabhu flagged off the first aircraft at 10.06am.

The inaugural flight, an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 to Abu Dhabi, had 185 passengers and crew members, and they were accorded a reception in the airport prior to the take-off, amid the festive mood.

The inaugural flight, with Vivek Kulkarni and Mihir Manjrekar as pilots, had Malayalis as crew members and it was literally like a festival, accompanied by 'mappilappattu' recital by passengers, inside the aircraft prior to take -off, said people on board. They were accorded a warm welcome at Abu Dhabi as well.

Prior to the formal commissioning, various facilities including the VIP launch, ATM counter, foreign exchange counter, medical facilities, food and beverage service were inaugurated by dignitaries present on the occasion, thus making Kial a full-fledged facility. Also, various cultural programmes, including a percussion performance by Mattannoor Sankarankutty and team, were organized.

Though there were limited services on the inaugural day-including GoAir's Bengaluru to Thiruvananthapuram via Kannur flight-more services would begin in the coming days, according to Kial officials. Many smaller aircraft, mostly private airlines, carrying the dignitaries also landed in the airport.

According to civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey, Spicejet would start operation from Kial to Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Indigo is also likely to start services in Mumbai-Delhi sector.

In the next one year, many domestic and international services would begin from Kial, he said. This includes daily AI Express flights to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, four services per week to Muscat and Doha, and three flights to Riyadh. Then, Jet Airways would operate to Abu Dhabi while Indigo would operate services to Kuwait, Doha and Dammam.

Kial managing director V Thulasidas said by bringing more visitors, the tourism sector in north Malabar could be strengthened. However, in order to achieve that goal, more domestic and international services should begin from here, he said.

Amid the festivities, there were some voices of protest as former chief ministers Oommen Chandy and V S Achuthanandan were not invited to the inaugural function though they had played a major role in realizing the project.

A passenger Faisal, hailing from Nadapuram, came with a placard expressing protest for not inviting Chandy. However, the officials somehow managed to pacify him and he boarded the flight later.