Indian carriers can fly abroad from Kannur

September 15 deadline for agencies to issue clearances Indian carriers have been given the nod by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to operate international flights from the Kannur international airport, which is getting ready for commercial flight operations later this year.

Foreign carriers waiting to commence flight operations to the fourth international airport in the State will have to wait till the ministry takes a call on the issue.

A decision to this effect was announced at meeting convened by Union Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey in New Delhi on Tuesday to expedite clearances from various agencies for commercial operations from the airport.

The meeting fixed September 15 as the deadline for the agencies to issue the required clearances, including the aerodrome licence by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), for commencing commercial operations.

Specific targets

For enabling this, specific targets had been set for the AAI, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Meteorological Department, Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and the Central Industrial Security Force, which has been entrusted with airport security.

The decision of Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL) to pull out from the Centre’s UDAN scheme after inking an agreement in January also came up for discussion.

Modified UDAN scheme

“A modified UDAN scheme exclusively for the Kannur airport was placed before the State by the Ministry. We will look into all aspects of the proposal before taking a decision,” KIAL Managing Director V. Thulasidas told a daily from Delhi.

Chief Secretary Tom Jose, Principal Secretary, Aviation, K.R. Jyothilal, AAI Chairman Guruprasad Mahoptra, and Joint Secretaries in Civil Aviation Ministry Arun Kumar, Usha Padhee, and Shefali Juneja were among those who attended the meeting.

With the nod, Air India, Air India Express, Jet Airways, GoAir, Spicejet, and Indigo can commence international operations from the airport. Emirates, Ethiad, Gulf Air, Oman Air, Air Arabia, Qatar Airways, Kuwait Airways, Fly Dubai, Air Asia, Silk Air, SriLankan Airlines, and Malindo Air have evinced interest for operating to Kannur.