Air India is expected to resume operations of wide-bodied aircraft from Calicut International Airport within a month, airport Director K. Srinivasa Rao has said.
In a seminar on ‘Calicut International Airport: Vision 2030’, organised by the Calicut Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Thursday, he said that the issue was before the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and expressed the hope that it would be approved by March. Mr. Rao said that the Dubai-based airline Emirates was also expecting approval to operate wide-bodied aircraft within six months. Saudi Arabian Airlines, which had started operating big aircraft from the airport, was gradually increasing the number of services from here.
Direct flight to Delhi
Responding to a request from the Chamber to have a daily direct flight to the national capital, he said that a non-stop flight had begun operations on Tuesdays, Thursday, and Saturdays from February 7. The trial service would continue for a month and would be regularised depending on the demand from travellers.
He pointed out that a proposal had been given to start more flights to Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata, and Mangaluru under the regional connectivity scheme.
About the demand to have connection flights to far-eastern countries, Mr. Rao said that the State government’s patronage would have to be sought for the purpose. In the initial stage, these services would incur financial losses to airline companies and the government would have to reimburse the amount to them.
Runway expansion
Mr. Rao said that the process to acquire 137 acres for the expansion of the existing runway and a new terminal with a parking base had begun. It would have the facility to park 26 aircraft, including five wide-bodied ones. The 15.2-acre parking lot could accommodate 3,000 cars. Right now, a social impact study was on ahead of the land acquisition, he pointed out.
Mr. Rao expressed the hope that the newly launched Kannur International Airport might not make any dent in the flight cargo operations from Calicut airport.
Last year, 3.4 million tonnes of cargo were handled by the airport and the numbers might not drop drastically, he added.
Earlier, Chamber representatives submitted a memorandum to the Director. Their other demands included services of more Code E aircraft to the Gulf sector by Air India and Emirates and street lighting and beautification of the road to the airport from Karipur Junction.