Kerala's fourth international airport in Kannur to be inaugurated on Dec 9

Kannur, Oct 6: Kerala's fourth international airport, in Kannur, is slated to open on December 9. However, the newly-constructed airport is currently thrown open for public till Oct 12. The airport, built at a project cost of Rs1,892 crores (Dh949 million), is located at Mattanur, near Kannur and spread over 2,000 acres of land.

Kannur International airport to open on December 9

The Kannur international airport will be formally commissioned on December 9. The date for inauguration was fixed as the Director General of Civil Aviation has accorded commercial flight operation licence to the airport, a release from the office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Friday.

Fifth-longest runway in the country

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is also the chairman of KIAL, said on Friday 11 international and six domestic carriers have shown interest in operating from the greenfield airport, which will have the fifth-longest runway in the country with a length of 4,000 metres.

Kerala, only state in India to have four international airports

With this, Kerala will be the only state in India to have four international airports, with the other three located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
Kannur is the only airport in south India which has the facility of a large area. KIAL acquired 2,300 acres for the airport. In this, KIAL has purchased 640 acres of land under the share of the government in the airport project. Rest of the land is not handed over to KIAL yet.

24 check-in and 32 immigration counters

The swanky new Kannur airport has 24 check-in and 32 immigration counters. Also, Parking will be available for 700 cars, 200 taxis and 25 buses outside the airport. The runway will begin at an operating length of 3,050 metres, increasing to 3,400m in 18 months and eventually to 4,000m.The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be in charge of the airport's security operations.

The first trial operation took place in February 2016, when an Indian Air Force aircraft landed at the airport and was received by the then Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy.