The Kannur International Airport, in Kannur, Kerala, is quite the marvel. In a state that is recovering from floods, the airport is a silver lining. It even played a part in the rescue missions, before being inaugurated for commercial operations. It still had licences awaiting but proved highly useful.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article featured images from the Muscat International Airport. The images have been changed, and the error is regretted.
Here are six things about it:
1. It is not the first commercial aviation airstrip in Kannur. In 1935, TATA airlines operated weekly flights between Bombay and Trivandrum, stopping at Goa and Cannanore! The demand for an airport was only conceptualised much later, in 1997. And since then, it has been a work in progress.
2. The new international airport is hi-tech, and has the latest generation of Instrument Landing System (ILS), from Norway, to help aircraft land precisely, according to The Hindu.
3. The airport required almost 1,200 acres of land on a hilltop at Mookapramabu to be levelled with around 700 acres of acquired land for future expansion. According to Star of Mysore, the ambitious project has been completed at the cost of Rs 1,892 crore.
4. An aviation academy will be set up at the airport, by the Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy and Technology, with two acres of land allotted for it. The institute will train students in aeronautics and provide flight training.
5. The Kannur Airport is a part of the elite group of airports with 4,000-metre runways. It is the fourth international airport in India to be in the same class as New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (94,430 meters), Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (4,260 meters), and Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (4,120 meters).
6. The airport will also have an enclave of the Indian Navy on around 10 acres of land. Interestingly, the Ezhimala Naval Academy, the only naval academy in India, and the largest in Asia, is just 60 kilometres away from the airport. It is a strategic defence location, and a top priority for the Navy. Similarly, the IAF will have a presence with their own enclave, and so will the Indian Coast Guard Academy.
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With high-tech infrastructure and technology, the airport is sure to make Kannur better connected to the country and the world.
Here are some pictures of the international airport. All Images Credits: Sanjeev VJ / Facebook
(Edited by Shruti Singhal)
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