The Civil Aviation Ministry has asked the State to expedite allocation of 137 acres of land for the development of Karipur airport and another 82 acres for setting up the new domestic terminal and ancillary facilities adjacent to the New International Terminal Building (NITB) of Thiruvananthapuram airport.
Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) E.K. Bharat Bhushan told a meet-the-press programme here that land was being sought for Karipur airport for the extension of the runway and for creating the Runway Safety End Area (RSEA).
Mr. Bharat Bhushan said 39 cents was needed in Vallakadavu area of Thiruvananthapuram international airport to create the mandatory RSEA.
Airport proposals
Replying to a query he said that request for clearance for setting up an airport with the support of Non-Resident Keralites at Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district had come before the DGCA. Clearance had not been given.
The Defence Ministry has raised objections to the proposal because of the site's proximity to the flight path of the Naval airport at Kochi.
In the case of a proposed airport at Guruvayur, Mr. Bharat Bhushan said it is only in the conceptual stage and had not come for clearance.
The DGCA said a two-member unit was monitoring the airline fares on a day-to-day basis. Airlines which hiked the fares without justification would face the music. He added that fares in the Kerala-Gulf sector would be monitored during the forthcoming Onam-Ramzan period.
