The Hindu : Front Page : International status for Calicut airport

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 02, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

International status for Calicut airport

P. Sunderarajan

Malabar welcomes the Union Cabinet decision

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to declare the Calicut airport as an international airport, thereby paving the way for the improvement of the infrastructure there for handling international flights.

Announcing this, Union Minister and Cabinet spokesperson Priya Ranjan Dashmunsi said though some international flights were already operating from the airport, declaring it as an international airport would help in augmenting the runway and other facilities at the airport so that more such flights could be operated from there.

End to agitations

Special Correspondent in Kozhikode writes:

The decision to grant international status to the airport at Karipur comes as a happy climax to a series of agitations organised by regular users of the airport and merchants' organisations in this part of the State.

Quite understandably, upgradation of the status of the airport has been welcomed with loud applause. The demand to upgrade the airport had reached a high pitch in recent weeks. Mass agitations in support of this demand were held under the banner of the Malabar Chamber of Commerce and the Calicut Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Political parties, including the Indian Union Muslim League which has a strong support base in Gulf countries, also had joined in the chorus of the demand.

The announcement that the airport would have international status has ignited hopes of a boom in business in the coming years. Passengers and merchants also expect air travel to become cheaper as entry of foreign airlines on international routes, which were till now monopolised by Indian operators, would increase competition and lead to reduction of air fair.

Speaking to The Hindu on Wednesday, R. Veeraswamy , Director, Calicut airport, said foreign airliners would be able to operate from the airport as soon as bilateral agreements were signed between India and the country to which the airline belonged.

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