Undeterred by the demand to postpone trial landing, Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL) authorities have decided to go ahead with the proposed touchdown of the first aircraft in December as scheduled.
The KIAL authorities are in correspondence with the Indian Air Force (IAF) authorities through the Southern Air Command to enable the trial landing of a Code B type aircraft at the airport coming up near Mattannur.
The KIAL authorities are racing against time, amid inclement weather, to complete the 2,400-metre runway. “The rain is playing spoilsport and we have lost the last 40 days. But we are hopeful of completing the work of the runway as scheduled in December,” a top KIAL official told The Hindu here on Monday.
The remaining stretch of the 3,050-metre runway in Phase I will be completed by mid-2016. This is adequate for the landing of wide-bodied aircraft.
In the next phase, KIAL is to extend it by another 350 metres after acquiring land. Political parties are demanding extension of the runway to 4,000 metres so that the greenfield airport can stake claim to the aviation hub status.
Construction of a four-level integrated terminal has reached roof-truss level and the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower is nearing completion. A high-level team from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) headquarters inspected the air traffic management and communication facilities recently.
The Aviation Meteorological Instruments along with MET Park will be ready by January.
R.R. Mali, Deputy Director General, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune, and S.B. Thampi, Deputy Director General, IMD, Southern Region, carried out a detailed inspection of the runway and ATC tower for installation of IMD instruments.
Discussions are on with the Commanding Officer, INS Garuda, on the Indian Navy’s proposed Naval Air Enclave. The only flying club in Kerala, Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy and Technology, will have its presence in the airport, for which about two acres is being allotted.
Work on the aviation fuel farm has commenced, sources said.
