The government on Friday appointed former chairman and managing director of Air India V. Thulasidas as the Managing Director (MD) of the Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL).
“The government order to this effect has been served to Mr. Thulasidas, who is in the capital,” official sources told The Hindu .
For Mr. Thulasidas, this will be the second term as MD of the KIAL. He will take over on Saturday at the corporate office of the KIAL in the capital.
Mr. Thulasidas succeeds G. Chandramouli, who was the managing director since July 2013. Mr. Chandramouli, General Manager (Commercial), Airports Authority of India, and former director of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport, was appointed as MD on deputation after the post fell vacant following the resignation of Mr. Thulasidas on April 30, 2012.
The new appointment comes even as the government was processing the file for extending the services of Mr. Chandramouli.
Tapping expertise
The expertise of Mr. Thulasidas in the aviation sector in the country and in Oman weighed in his favour. Former Civil Aviation Secretary M. Madhavan Nambiar was also considered by the government for the post.
In 2012, Mr. Thulasidas put in his papers in the wake of a media report criticising him and his colleagues, following the cancellation of the consultancy agreement with Mumbai-based STUP Consultants Private Limited.
The appointment comes at a time when the green field airport, the fourth international airport of the State, is gearing up for commercial flight operations in March 2017. Getting licence from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and roping in airlines will be the major challenges for the new MD.
The test flight to the airport coming up at Mattannur near Kannur was successfully held on February 29 this year.
As much as 80 per cent of the work on the airport has been completed.
