M.K. Raghavan, MP, will go on a 24-hour hunger strike on July 12 seeking intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore the Haj embarkation point and service of wide-bodied aircraft at the Calicut International Airport.
He told the media here on Monday that the airport had hit rough weather after the operation of wide-bodied aircraft was banned for taking up repair of the runway in May 2015.
Profit making
Once among the six profit-making airports in the country in the public sector, its position fell to 16 in terms of the number of passengers and 12 in terms of air cargo.
The revenue had fallen by 33% too.
“Some hidden forces are trying to destroy the airport,” he said.
Though the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had promised to restore the operation of wide-bodied aircraft after the completion of the runway work, it was yet to happen, Mr. Raghavan said.
Official claim
“The official claim is that Calicut airport has a table-top runway and is prone to accidents. But so far no accidents have happened here. Why did they allow an embarkation point at the Mangaluru airport, where an aircrash had happened a few years ago?” he asked.
Mr. Raghavan said that a joint team of the AAI and DGCA had submitted a report to the Centre that the Calicut airport was fit to operate B777-200, B 777-300, B 787-800 Dreamliner, and A330-300 and there was no technical objections in acquiring land for the purpose.
Code E aircraft
The report was approved by the Airports Authority of India, which directed the DGCA to permit operation of Code E aircraft.
However, nothing happened after that even though private airline companies were ready to resume services from here.
Mr. Raghavan said there were over two lakh Malayalis in Saudi Arabia, most of whom depended on the Calicut airport for their travel. The highest number of Hajjis too were from the Malabar region.
“However, the Haj Bhavan constructed near the airport is lying deserted now after the embarkation point was shifted to Kochi.”
The cooperation of other political parties and socio-cultural organisations would be sought to take forward the agitation, he said.
“If the Centre is not in a mood to accept our demands, I will go on an indefinite fast,” he added.
