Calicut airport to be partially shut from May 1

Calicut Airport, which will be undertaking re-carpeting of its runway from May 1, will be partially shut down for six months, affecting 26 of the 162 flights operating out of the airport per week, said a statement released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The airlines whose flights will be hit are Saudia Airlines, Emirates and Air India. Rest of the airlines will operate flights as per schedule and are not likely to get impacted.

"It has been decided to re-carpet and strengthen the runway at the Calicut Airport for safety reasons arising out of its precarious surface condition after the last monsoon," said the government statement.

The airport will begin the runway re-carpeting post monsoon in September this year. In the meantime, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to suspend operations of the wide-bodied aircraft such as B-777, B747 and A330-200 for six months.

The state-owned has, however, allowed narrow bodied aircraft to continue operations without disruption.

"The situation will be reviewed after assessing the progress of re-carpeting work of the runway and the decision communicated by the DGCA (directorate general of civil aviation) in this regard," states the statement.

The AAI has also requested for allocation of 248 acre land from the Kerala government for extension of runway at the airport including runway end safety area and basic strip of 150 metre on either side of the runway centreline.