Ethihad, Air Arabia, Gulf Air among 15 airlines likely to operate from Kannur

Kannur, Jul 28: Several major international and domestic airlines have expressed their willingness to operate services to the Kannur Greenfield International Airport coming up at Mattannur, here.

This was communicated by representatives of these airlines at a meeting convened by the Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL) here on Wednesday.

The 15 airlines that have come forward are: Air India, Air India Express, Go Air, Air Arabia, Qatar Airways, Air Asia India, Ethihad Airways, Jet Airways, Silk Air, Gulf Air, Oman Air, Spice Jet, Emirates, Fly Dubai and Indigo.

The meeting was convened by KIAL against the backdrop of the airlines gearing up for the preparation of the summer schedule.

“The exercise was to sensitise the invited airline representatives to attract them to Kannur. We have succeeded in the task,” Managing Director of KIAL V. Thulasidas said.

During the open house and the one-to-one interaction after the airport was showcased, the airline representatives told KIAL that they were keen to operate to Kannur once the airport became functional in March 2017.

International and domestic routes to and from Kannur and the flight schedules came up for discussion.

The airlines sought night parking facilities as the apron can accommodate 20 Code C aircraft in Phase I and another 40 in Phase II lounges in the integrated terminal building and communicated their keenness to commence cargo operations from the Kannur airport.