Kannur International Airport to start functioning from September

The Kannur International Airport will be functional from September 2019. The announcement was made after Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala, along with his team met Suresh Prabhu, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation. The airport is being built at a cost of INR 1,892 crores, and is located at Mattanur (near Kannur) on 2,000 acres of land.
With the inauguration of this airport, Kannur aerodrome will become the fourth international airport in Kerala after Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The state is already renowned for having the maximum number of international airports in the country.

As per an official statement, Mr. Prabhu was quoted saying that all the required help will be provided to Kannur airport to make it completely functional by the month of September this year. Just after the meeting, Mr. Prabhu also asked the Airport Authority of India (AAI) Chairman to do the needful in order to make Kannur airport favourable for foreign airlines.
In February 2016, the first trial operation took place when an Indian Air Force aircraft landed here. After the completion, the airport will have parking areas for 14 Code E aircrafts or 20 Code C aircrafts. Besides, it is being anticipated that it will be able to manage 2,000 passengers at one time, and serve around 1.5 million passengers per year from across the globe.

Mr. Vijayan also mentioned that there’s a possibility of setting up an airport at Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district as the place annually attracts more than a lakh pilgrims, who come here to visit the renowned hilltop Sabarimala temple.