First test flight lands in Kannur airport

Kannur:  Marking a milestone in the development of Kannur Greenfield airport, the first test flight landed on the runway on Monday morning.

The touching down of the pilot flight also marked the formal completion of an important phase in the construction of the airport. The airport is expected to be commercially operational in September.

For the test, a ten seater Dornier 228 from Bengaluru landed on the runway. The landing will help to assess technical aspects of the runway. After the landing, a public function was held to mark the occasion which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. Excise Minister K. Babu presided.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the airport would speed up the growth of tourism and handloom industries of the northern part of Kerala.

"People will rebuff with contempt those who oppose growth- the thousands who has come to witness the function is a clear pointer to this," Mr. Chandy said.

The Chief Minister said the opposition has the right to criticise but the people would not approve of their stalling development activities.

Ministers K. C. Joseph and K. P. Mohanan were among those present.

The fourth commercial airport in Kerala, Kannur airport will also be the most advanced in terms of technology and the largest in the State.

Located at Moorkhanparambu in Mattanur, the airport is spread over 2,200 acres. The runway is 3,050 metres long, which will be extended later to 4,000 metres.

About 2,400 metres of the runway has been completed and the first phase of construction is expected to cost about Rs. 1,892 crore. Construction of about 65 per cent of the terminals and 80 per cent of the air traffic control tower has been completed, an official release said.