Kerala to get fourth airport

New Delhi, Sep 6 (UNI) The chances of one more airport in Kerala, coming up at Kannur, brightened today with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel assuring the state to give clearance, overruling a few technical problems raised earlier.

The project, which seeks to set up the fourth international airport in a state with a small geographical area, was first mooted by the previous LDF government headed by E K Nayanar and nearly 200 acres of land were acquired then. However, the project could not move forward due to certain objections raised by the Airports Authority of India which insisted that there must be two runways.

Kerala now has international airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.

Kerala Home and Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan today discussed the details of the project with Mr Patel, who asked the state government to acquire more lands.

He said Mr Patel had removed the apprehensions about the future of the project when he said he would give relaxation for the state with regard to the rules relating to the two runways. Since there was scarcity of land in the state, he assured to give clearance for the project with one runway.

Mr Balakrishnan said the next meeting of the state Cabinet would appoint a special officer for the Kannur project. About 2500 acres of land would be acquired for the project at Moorkkanparambu in Kannur.

He said Mr Patel would visit Kerala next month to inaugurate developmental works being undertaken at the Thiruvananthapuram International airport.

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