The Kannur international airport took off on Sunday with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu jointly flagging off the Abu Dhabi-bound Air India Express flight, marking the commissioning of the greenfield airport developed near Mattannur here.
The massive turnout of people from early morning to see the airport and the inaugural flight created a festive ambience. A landmark project, the airport was a dream-come-true for the people in the region. The inaugural flight Air India Express IX 715 was flagged off at 10.06 a.m. and it took off with 186 passengers. The passengers in the maiden flight from the new airport were accorded a reception by Ministers and officials of Kannur International Airport Ltd. (KIAL) at the departure area of the airport terminal.
Ministers E.P. Jayarajan, Kadannappally Ramachandran, A.K. Saseendran, K.K. Shylaja and E. Chandrasekharan were among those present at the inaugural function. The Chief Minister and the Civil Aviation Minister jointly lit the lamp at the departure hall to inaugurate the terminal building. Civil Aviation Secretary Kamal Nayan Choubey, Chief Secretary Tom Jose, KIAL Managing Director V. Thulasidas, and State police chief Loknath Behera were also present.
On the inaugural day GoAir operated its scheduled service to Bengaluru and to Thiruvananthapuram.
Before the flagging-off and the inaugural function, various facilities such as the VIP lounge in the departure area, ATM and foreign exchange counters, e-autorickshaw services and the food and beverages outlets were inaugurated by the Ministers.
The KSRTC operated free bus services to the airport.
