All you need to know about Kannur International Airport (KIAL)
Facts:
- Situated at heart of Malabar Region.
- Currently under construction at Mattanur in Kannur District.
- Around 25 kilometers from the cities of Kannur and Thalassery.
- Built on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
- Once the airport becomes operational, Kerala would be the only state with four international airports.
- Airports Authority of India has an equity stake of 10 percent & state has stake of 35%, Public Sector 25% and investors 30%.
- Initiated in 1996, when C.M. Ibrahim was the civil aviation minister.
- E.K. Nayanar-led state government pursued the project in 1997 with the proposal of a Greenfield Airport at Kannur.
- The foundation stone for the Airport was laid on 17 December 2010.
- The construction work commenced in November 2013.
- Completion target date was 31 December 2016 with commercial operations expected to begin by Mid 2017, which got delayed due to various reasons and expected to be functional by mid of 2017.
- The airport, with a 3,050-metre runway, would focus more on the Gulf sector. The runway would cater to the present requirements and future expansions would be considered based on the business generated.
Numerical Facts:
- Runway width is 45 m.
- RESA(runway end safety area) 90 m x 240 m.
- The orientation of the runway is 07/25 which permits obstacle free approach.
- The airport is classified as a Code 4 E airport, with 60m of stopway followed by a runway end safety area of 240m on either end of the runway.
- The parallel taxi way will be extended to full length of the runway including 2 rapid exits.
- Once fully functional the airport will have a handling capacity of 4.67 million passengers and 60,758 tonnes of cargo per annum by 2026.
- The airport will be able to handle 39,638 aircraft movements yearly with peak aircraft movement at 18 per hour.
Runway comparisons & facts
At present, the tabletop runway of Kozhikode airport is 2,863 m long, the premier airport in Thiruvananthapuram has a 3,996 m runway, Cochin International Airport, the first green field airport built in PPP mode, has a runway of 3,400 m.
Considering the tourism and future travel estimations, the board of Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL) decided to extend the runway from 3,050 m to 4,000 m.
The land acquisition process for expanding the runway to 4,000 metres has already started.
Energy efficiency @ Airport
Kannur would be a complete environment friendly airport in India.
A water recycling facility is planned parallel to the construction and would use non-conventional energy in possible ways.
Kannur International Airport is looking sun-ward to meet its energy needs.
KIAL has already invited EoI for the 1-MW project, which will meet some of its internal power needs.
Road Developments planned or undergoing for Airport
- Kannur - Mattannur
- Thalassery - Mattannur
- Payannur - Mattannur
- Karnataka Border - Mattannur
- Mattannur -Anjarakkandi - Thalassery
- Wayanad - Mattannur
- Mahi - Muzhuppilangad by pass
- Nadapuram - Thalassery road
Positives
Kannur has the second largest population of the NRIs in the Gulf region.
As of now railway gets major revenue from Kannur railway station compared to near by stations.
The tourism opportunities are multiplied in years.
People from Coorg, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kozhikode districts too expected to travel from Kannur in coming days. There is a big revenue expected from Coorg and Wayanad for cargo business.
Bottlenecks
As a wider accepted fact, the airport could attract traffic only if there was proper road connectivity.
The roads at Kannur are still not acquired and widened.
Facilities at the KIA
The airport will be equipped with flight information display systems, air conditioning systems, public address systems, airport access control systems, integrated airport management systems, surveillance cameras and tetra wireless systems. It has also planned for energy conservation methods like water re-cycling and solar energy harvesting.
Contractors Involved
- KSEB - Kerala State Electricity Board will fulfil the power requirements.
- KWA - Kerala Water Authority will supply the treated water for the airport development.
- L&T - Larsen & Toubro was awarded the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contract for phase one of the project in November 2013. The contract will also include construction works for the runway, taxiway, apron and other field facilities.
- A consortium of AECOM and Crisil is the project consultant, while KITCO is the engineering consultant for the project.
IATA: CNN, ICAO: VOKN
KIAL received International Air Transport Association (IATA) code now. IATA officer for Coding and Multilateral Interline Traffic Agreements (MITA) Jeffrey Ross had informed Harsh Pandey(Air India Charters Limited, Mumbai) about this. The letter says “We are pleased to inform you your company has met all the requirements for the assignment of a Location Code. Therefore, and in accordance with IATA Passenger Services Conference Resolution 763, we have assigned you the above-mentioned Location Code.”
What is IATA airport code?
The airport code is an identifier for location provided by IATA. All airports in the world are identified by a three-letter code defined by the IATA. The codes are published biannually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. It is used for passenger reservation, ticketing, and baggage-handling systems.
KIAL has already received the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) four-letter code - VOKN.
Kannur Airport Contact Details email : enquiry@kannurairport.in
Registered office
Managing Director
Kannur International Airport Ltd
Registered Office
Parvathy TC 36/1
Chacka NH Bypass
Thiruvananthapuram 695024
Regional Office
Chief Project Engineer
Kannur International Airport Ltd
New Municipal Building
2nd Floor Maruthai Road
Mattannur
Kannur 670702
