With the Kannur international airport getting ready for commercial operations later this year, uncertainty prevails over international flight operations from the fourth airport in the State. At present, talks are on with Indian and foreign carriers to finalise operations from the airport.
Sensing urgency, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the fourth Governing Council of NITI Aayog in New Delhi on June 17, to allow each interested airline to operate two flights daily as a special dispensation done earlier by the Civil Aviation Ministry for the Karipur airport.
The move to restrict flight operations in Kannur to the domestic sector is seen as part of a move to make the Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengalaru, and Hyderabad airports as “major international hubs and main access points for international travel to and from India” and follow the hub-and-spoke model to facilitate development of regional networks and air connectivity as envisaged in the draft Civil Aviation Policy. However, this had been avoided when the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 was rolled out.
But, the Civil Aviation Ministry is yet to declare Kannur as a “point of call” to facilitate Indian and foreign carriers to commence international operations. Bilateral traffic rights are not an issue for commencing flight operations to West Asia and other sectors from Kannur, sources told The Hindu .
The Chief Minister, who is also the chairman of KIAL, has also suggested that the airlines willing to operate two flights abroad from Kannur daily should be included in the future bilateral pacts with the respective countries as and when renewed.
Air India, Air India Express, Jet Airways, GoAir, Spicejet and Indigo are awaiting a decision to commence international operations. Emirates, Ethiad, Gulf Air, Oman Air, Air Arabia, Qatar Airways, Kuwait Airways, Fly Dubai, Air Asia, Silk Air, SriLankan Airlines and Malindo Air have evinced interest.
KIAL authorities fear whether the Kannur airport, aimed at catering to the needs of Non-Resident Keralites of Malabar, will face a fate similar to the Mangaluru airport, which has international flight operations limited to Air India Express and Jet Airways.
