The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has approved the proposal of Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines) to resume the operation of wide-bodied aircraft Boeing 777-200 and Airbus 330-300 at the Calicut International Airport from next month.
The announcement was made by M.K. Raghavan, MP, who said he had received a communication in this regard on Tuesday. The DGCA had on August 9 given a no-objection certificate to Saudia to resume the operation of both types of aircraft under Code E comes with multiple riders.
The airline had submitted a safety and compatibility study for the operation of wide-bodied aircraft under International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) guidelines.
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The Ministry of Civil Aviation had allowed Saudia to operate existing schedules from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport till March 2019, Mr. Raghavan siad. He said Saudia representatives would make the announcement on the operation of wide-bodied aircraft at Calicut airport shortly. The resumption of wide- odied aircraft would be a boon for the air passengers of north Kerala.
Mr. Raghavan said Air India too would operate wide-bodied aircraft from Calicut airport soon, following the positive decisions of the DGCA and the Airports Authority of India.