The Calicut International Airport will be partially closed for almost five months beginning November 15 to take up taxiway related works.
The runway of the airport will be temporarily closed between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. during the entire winter schedule.
“There will not be any cancellation or diversion of flights. Taxiway works are done in accordance with the directives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the operation of wide-bodied aircraft,” Calicut Airport Director K. Srinivasa Rao told The Hindu on Friday.
Normally, only a few flights operate in the afternoon. In the domestic sector, Air India operates a flight to Delhi via Kannur and in the international sector, Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines) before 1 p.m. Both the flights have been re-scheduled for the winter schedule ending on March 28, 2020.
Approximately, ₹4 crore will be spent for the work that include the expansion of the fillet linking the taxiway to the runway.
Earlier, the DGCA had asked the airport to develop the taxiway to comply with the regulations for the operation of big aircraft under Code E.
The expansion of the fillet is required to protect wide-bodied aircraft while turning off from the runway to the taxiway.
The Calicut airport has four taxiways. Three of them will function when fillet work is carried out on one of them.
