Dubai-based Emirates will conduct a compatibility study and safety assessment at the Calicut airport on March 4 for resuming the operation of its wide-bodied aircraft.
A high-level team from Emirates will carry out the safety assessment and mitigation plans for the operation of wide-bodied aircraft under Code E, airport director K. Srinivasa Rao told The Hindu on Monday.
Meanwhile, C.E. Chakkunny, president of the Malabar Development Council and chief coordinator of Malabar International Airport Committee, also informed that representatives from the Emirates operation team would carry out the safety assessment for the operation of its aircraft type.
Adel al Redha, executive vice president and chief operations officer of Emirates, had written to him in response to a letter Mr. Chakkunny had written to Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group.
As of now, only Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines) is operating wide-bodied aircraft. It began the services in December after the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave the approval. This was also after submitting a safety assessment report and mitigation plan for the Boeing 777-200 and Airbus 330-300, after submitting a safety and compatibility study under ICAO guidelines in August.
The operation of wide-bodied aircraft was banned at the airport from May 2015 in the wake of the court of inquiry report on the Air India Express Boeing 737 crash in Mangaluru in May 2010. It then cited that the tabletop runway of the airport had only a length of 2,850 metre and was designed to operate only narrow-bodied aircraft and that the Runway End Safety Area of the airport was inadequate for the wide-bodied aircraft operation.
