With Kannur International Airport, Kerala becomes the only Indian state to have four international airports

The Kannur International airport is built at a cost of Rs 1,892 crore and is expected to cater to 10 lakh passengers annually.

With the recent inauguration of Kannur International Airport, Kerala has become the only state in the country to house four international airports. Built at a cost of Rs 1,892 crore, the airport was jointly inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu on December 9. They flagged off the maiden Air India Express flight to Abu Dhabi.

Built on a public-private partnership model the airport spans over an area of 2,000 acres of land at Mattanur, 25 km away from Kannur.

The infrastructure comprises an integrated terminal for domestic and international passengers, six aerobridges, and a 3,050-metre-long runway. During the peak hours, it can hold up to 2,000 passengers.

At present, international flights operation will include flights from Kannur to the UAE, Oman and Qatar. Also, it will be connected to Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai.

At the inauguration ceremony, Shri Suresh Prabhu said,

This is a great day for Kerala and the aviation industry. Kerala has a high potential for growth by creating a world-class infrastructure. This greenfield airport built using futuristic technology is a symbol of how the future of the aviation industry in India should be, reports The Indian Express.

At present, the state’s international airport caters to the transport of a huge chunk of its population to Gulf countries. Around 25 lakh people from Kerala are living abroad with most of them in the Middle East. The airport will be expected to cater to 10 lakh passengers annually, reports Hindustan Times.

In addition to serving people from Kannur and Kasaragod districts of Kerala, the airport will also serve Kodagu district in the neighbouring state of Karnataka.

Shri Suresh Prabhu noted how the airport will give a boost to the state’s export of spices and marine products.

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