Kannur: Kerala celebrates opening of 4th international airport

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday inaugurated the Kannur international airport making Kerala the only state in the country to have four international airports.

The other three international airports are Cochin International Airport, Trivandrum International Airport and Calicut International Airport.

The first commercial flight from the airport, an Air India Express flight IX 715 with 180 passengers on board to Abu Dhabi, was flagged off by the two chief guests present at the inaugural today morning.

Spread across 2,000 acres of area, this new international airport is likely to boost tourism in the region like Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargode. It may also increase the inter-trade in sectors such as spices and handloom.

"Among Indian states, Kerala now has the highest density of International airports. All district head quarters are now within 3 hours of drive from an international airport. Almost all towns in state are within 4 hrs of drive from an international airport", CM Pinarayi Vijayan wrote on Facebook. 

Accusing the Congress-led UDF of delaying the Kannur airport project when it was in power, Vijayan said the alliance, which ruled the state between 2001 and 2006, had done nothing to make the long-pending dream a reality.

"The project got a fresh lease of life after the V S Achutanandan government came to power in 2006," he said.

Vijayan alleged that the Ommen Chandy government had tried to create an impression that work on the airport was completed and carried out its inauguration before the LDF came to power in 2016.

"An Indian Air Force aircraft, which can land anywhere, was brought here and people were invited saying that the airport was being inaugurated," Vijayan said, adding the same airport has now been opened in its full-fledged form, two-and-a-half years after his government came to power.