Karippur airport to operate foreign flights from 2008

Kozhikode, Sep 8 (UNI) The Karippur International Airport near here will introduce flight operations by foreign airliners from early next year.

Talking to newspersons here today, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Kerala Unit President K Muraleedharan, who met Union Civil Aviation Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel in New Delhi recently, said the Minister had given an assurance in this regard.

He said this would ease the problems faced by passengers due to reported delay of state-owned Air India and Indian flights to various destinations.

Meanwhile, a leading business chamber here said it would stage a dharna before the Air India office on September 10, demanding early introduction of flight services by foreign airliners.

Talking to newspersons, Calicut Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Wing President M M Sharief accused the government of denying permission to foreign airliners to only maintain the ''monopoly'' of the public sector airliners.

UNI