More than three years after they flew away, wide-bodied aircraft will be back at the Calicut international airport in a fortnight.
The first aircraft of the Code E category, a Saudi Air flight from Jeddah, will land at Calicut at 11.10 a.m. on December 5. The return flight will leave at 12.50 p.m.
M.K. Raghavan, MP, Kozhikode, pointed out in a press release that wide-bodied aircraft were being allowed to be operated from the Calicut airport after three years of agitations and protests by Pravasi associations, legislators, and a host of other organisations.
The operation of wide-bodied aircraft at the airport was banned in early 2015 in view of safety concerns, which in turn affected thousands of north Kerala Pravasis working in the Gulf. As a result, they had to first fly into Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, or other airports and then travel by road to their homes.
For a start, Saudi Air is resuming its earlier flights to Kozhikode from December 5.
