Kozhikode: After a long interval of 18 months, the Calicut International Airport will open for round-the-clock service on Wednesday with a revised runway schedule. But services of large aircraft would remain suspended. The runway was closed on May 1, 2015, to flights between 12 noon and 8 pm for re-carpeting, maintenance and installation of new landing and lighting systems. A new instrument landing system (Normarc 7000 B ILS) was commissioned recently after its air calibration tests using a special Airport Authority of India (AAI) aircraft. The cost of the system replacing the old ILS installed in 1996 was Rs 3 crore.
The trade and travel bodies of the region welcomed the opening while registering their protest against the ban on wide-bodied aircraft. The Kerala State Haj Committee had demanded retendering of Haj flights to include the airport as an embarkation point for this year’s operations. The tender notice issued by the Union ministry of civil aviation earlier this month had excluded it from its list of 21 embarkation points despite longstanding demands. Malabar Development Council chair C.E. Chakkunny said, though the trade and industry are happy with the move, without lifting the ban on big aircraft, the international status of the airport will not last long.
