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Kozhikode International Airport

Coordinates: 11°08′N 75°57′E / 11.14°N 75.95°E / 11.14; 75.95
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Calicut International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerAAI
OperatorAirports Authority of India
ServesKozhikode
Malappuram
Wayanad
Palakkad
LocationKaripur, Malappuram, Kerala, India
Hub forAir India Express
Elevation AMSL104 m / 342 ft
Coordinates11°08′N 75°57′E / 11.14°N 75.95°E / 11.14; 75.95
Websiteaai.aero/allAirports/calicut_general.jsp
Map
CCJ is located in Kerala
CCJ
CCJ
CCJ is located in India
CCJ
CCJ
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
10/28 2,860 9,383 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2017 - March 2018)
Passenger movements3139432 (Increase18.4%)
Aircraft movements24910 (Increase26.3%)
Cargo tonnage18866 (Increase34.5%)
Source: AAI[1][2][3]

Calicut International Airport (IATA: CCJ, ICAO: VOCL), also known as Karipur Airport, is an international airport serving the cities of Kozhikode and Malappuram. The airport opened on 13 April 1988.[4] It is located in Karipur, about 28 km (17 mi) from Kozhikode and 25 km (16 mi) from Malappuram. The airport serves as an operating base for Air India Express. It was the twelfth-busiest airport in India in terms of overall passenger traffic.[5] It is the third-busiest airport in Kerala after Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. It was given international airport status on 2 February 2006.[6][7]

History

Early years

The airport was inaugurated in April 1988.[8]

Calicut airport gained its sanction after a long period of struggle, which began in 1977, under the leadership of freedom fighter late K.P. Kesava Menon. In the 1990s, Gulf Malayalis played an important part in the development of the airport - they collected funds for the purpose, when the Union Government said it did not have funds. This led to the inception of, the Malabar International Airport Development Society, which helped raise funds for the airport's development. Consequently, major developments of facilities, such as extension of runway from 6,000 feet to 9,000 feet to facilitate operation of big-bodied aircraft, were carried out, with loans from HUDCO.

It received the status of an international airport on February 2, 2006, which led to development in its infrastructure, for handling the operation of international flights from its terminal. It holds the distinction of being the 12th-busiest airport in India, and 11th-busiest in cargo handling, in terms of its passenger traffic.

Wide-body aircraft restrictions

Since 1 May 2015, The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has imposed the restriction of wide body aircraft such as Boeing 777 and 747 for a period of six months due to runway re-carpeting which had been long overdue at this airport. As a result, Emirates, Saudia and 2 Air India 747 flight operations had to move temporarily to Cochin International Airport during this time. The airport authorities have also expressed doubt about getting permission to operate wide-bodied aircraft from the airport even after the completion of the re-carpeting as the runway in the airport is not large enough for the operation of jumbo aircraft. AAI had earlier instructed all airports using widebody aircraft must have 240 m of RESA on each direction vs Calicut airports 75m. The airport Director K Janardhanan said the short runway was a major hurdle in operating the wide-bodied aircraft from the table top airport and the runway length should be extended from the current 2,850 metres to 3,150 metres to operate wide-bodied aircraft, he added. The major hurdle in extending the runway is the delay in acquiring the land which require a total of 385 acres of land for extending the runway and associated facilities. The state government has been finding the task difficult as it requires evacuation of 1,500 families living around the airport.[9] As of June 10, 2016, not much action has been taken for land acquisition to help increase the runway length.[10] Now the AAI has came to a Diside to get a safety area to avoid the aircraft falling from the table Top runway.

Reinstatement of Wide-body Aircraft Operations

As a consequence of prolonged protests by various NGOs (Malabar Development Forum and others), Gulf Malayalis, political parties, Kerala State Government and MPs from Malabar region, on 9 August 2018, DGCA gave approval for resuming wide-body aircraft (Code E category) operations from Calicut International Airport.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] In the beginning, Saudia has been given permission to start nonstop flights to Jeddah and Riyadh, using Boeing 777-300 ER, Boeing 777-200 ER and Airbus 330-300.[11][12] After three and a half years, the wide-body aircraft (Airbus 330-300) of Saudi Arabian Airways from Jeddah landed at Calicut International Airport at 11:04 (IST) on 5 December 2018.[18][19][20] It flew back to Jeddah on the same day at 13:19 (IST).[21][22][20] Saudia has also resumed its services to Riyadh from Calicut in December 2018 itself.[23]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinationsRefs.
Air ArabiaSharjah[24]
Air IndiaDelhi (begins 2 April 2019), Dubai-International, Kannur (begins 2 April 2019), Mumbai, Sharjah[25][26][27]
Air India ExpressAbu Dhabi, Al Ain, Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai-International, Kochi, Kuwait, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh, Salalah, Sharjah, Thiruvananthapuram[28]
Etihad AirwaysAbu Dhabi [29]
EmiratesDubai–International (temporarily suspended)[30][31]
flydubaiDubai–Al Maktoum (begins 19 April 2019, ends 28 May 2019), Dubai–International (ends 16 April 2019, resumes 31 May 2019) [32][33][34][35]
Gulf AirBahrain[36]
IndiGo Abu Dhabi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Doha, Dubai-International, Mumbai, Sharjah[37]
Jet Airways Mumbai (resume 31 march 2019)[38]
Oman AirMuscat[39]
Qatar AirwaysDoha[40]
Saudia Jeddah, Riyadh [20]
SpiceJetBengaluru, Chennai, Dubai-International, Jeddah (begins 20 April 2019)[41]

Cargo

AirlinesDestinationsRefs.
Saudia Cargo Jeddah, Riyadh [42][43]

Connectivity

Road

Calicut International Airport is located between two National Highways. The closest one is National Highway 966 (NH-966) situated at a distance of 2.3 kilometers and the other one being National Highway 66 (NH-66) which is around 8 kilometers from the airport. NH-966 joins NH-66 at Ramanattukara, located 12 kilometers from the airport. This combined road network enables seamless connectivity to the north to Kozhikode, Kannur, and Wayanad, and towards the south to Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur, and Coimbatore.

Buses

Kerala State Road Transport Corporation operates FlyBus (low-floor AC bus) services to the city of Kozhikode from the airport.[44] This is one of the cheapest available options to travel to the city.

Rail

The two closest railway stations are Feroke railway station (around 18 kilometers from the airport) and Kozhikode Railway station (around 28 kilometers from the airport), which are connected to all major cities in India.  

Taxis

Pre-paid taxi services are available at the airport.[45]

Accidents and incidents

  • On 17 January 1969, Douglas C-47A VT-DTH of Hindu Publications crashed on take-off. The aircraft was operating a cargo flight. Both crew were killed. At the time airport had been initialized as an air strip at "Chelari", a few kilometres away from the current location.[46]
  • On 7 November 2008 an Air India Airbus 310 flight AI 962 flying from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, scraped its right wing tip on the runway on landing. Parts of the plane's wing broke leaving a mark on the runway.[47]
  • On 9 July 2012 an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 skidded on landing, during heavy rain. The aircraft's landing gear impacted with runway beacons, breaking them.[48] There were no casualties on board.[48]
  • On 10 June 2015 an argument between Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) personnel at the airport escalated into a gun battle, leading to one person's death and serious injuries to two others late on Wednesday night.[49]
  • On 25 April 2017 an Air India A321-200 suffered an engine failure during take off, resulting in a left tyre burst. The take off was aborted and flight cancelled.[50]
  • On 4 August 2017, a SpiceJet Bombardier Dash 8 skidded on landing and damaged the ILS beacons. No one was killed and the captain landed and taxied safely to the terminal.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Traffic News for the month of March 2018: Annexure-III" (PDF). Airports Authority of India. 1 May 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Traffic News for the month of March 2018: Annexure-II" (PDF). Airports Authority of India. 1 May 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Traffic News for the month of March 2018: Annexure-IV" (PDF). Airports Authority of India. 1 May 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Calicut airport turns 30".
  5. ^ "AAI traffic figures 2011-2012" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Calicut Airport". Iloveindia.com. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  7. ^ Archive. "Calicut airport given international status". Hindu.com. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Silver jubilee does not bring cheer to Karipur airport users". The Times Of India. 2 April 2012.
  9. ^ Devasia, T K. "Wide-body aircraft operations to and from Gulf to stop at Calicut - Khaleej Times". www.khaleejtimes.com. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  10. ^ "Plea to acquire land for airport". The Hindu. 10 June 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Finally, DGCA gives nod for operation of wide-bodied aircraft at Calicut airport". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 10 August 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 August 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ^ a b "Green signal for jumbo aircraft". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 10 August 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 August 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. ^ "Operation of wide-body aircraft from Calicut to commence soon: Suresh Prabhu". The Economic Times. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  14. ^ Reporter, Staff (12 July 2018). "MP On 'save Calicut airport' mission". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Forum alleges conspiracy to downgrade Calicut airport". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 5 July 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 August 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ^ "Calicut airport expansion: AAI chief to meet CM". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 24 July 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 August 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. ^ "Calicut airport to see operation of wide-bodied aircraft: Centre". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Saudia (SV) #746 ✈ 05-Dec-2018 ✈ JED / OEJN - CCJ / VOCL ✈ FlightAware". FlightAware. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  19. ^ Reporter, Staff (5 December 2018). "Big birds back in Karipur". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  20. ^ a b c "Big aircraft to return to Calicut from December 5". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  21. ^ "Saudia (SV) #747 ✈ 05-Dec-2018 ✈ CCJ / VOCL - JED / OEJN ✈ FlightAware". FlightAware. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  22. ^ "Large plane lands at Calicut airport after three years". OnManorama. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  23. ^ "SAUDIA Press releases". www.saudia.com. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Air Arabia Destinations - Kozhikode". airarabia.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  25. ^ "Air India Timetable". airindia.in. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  26. ^ "Air India Timetable CCJ-DEL". airindia.in. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  27. ^ "Kannur-Delhi flight service 5 days a week". mathrubhumi.com. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  28. ^ "Air India Express Destinations - Kozhikode". airindiaexpress.in. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  29. ^ "Etihad flights to Kozhikode". etihad.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  30. ^ "Airlines pull out of Calicut International Airport". Business Traveller. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  31. ^ "Emirates to make safety assessment on March 4". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  32. ^ "UAE budget airline flydubai adds new Indian city; return fare starts from Dh670". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  33. ^ "Flydubai to launch new flights to India's Kozhikode". The National AE. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  34. ^ "Flydubai Timetable". flydubai.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  35. ^ "Emirates to reduce flights, FlyDubai to partially shift operations to DWC during DXB runway maintenance". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  36. ^ "Gulf Air launches non-stop Bahrain-Kozhikode service". Economic Times. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  37. ^ "IndiGo Destination, Kozhikode". goindigo.in. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  38. ^ "Jet Airways Destinations, Kozhikode". jetairways.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  39. ^ "Oman Air Destinations, Kozhikode". omanair.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  40. ^ "Welcome to Kozhikode, India's beautiful south". qatarairways.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  41. ^ "India's SpiceJet plans to launch Jeddah flights from Calicut". Arabian Business. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  42. ^ "Saudia Cargo extends its services to Calicut". Saudi Gazette. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  43. ^ "Saudia Airlines Cargo launches route to India". Air Cargo News. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  44. ^ Reporter, Staff (4 July 2018). "Fly Bus services launched". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  45. ^ "Kozhikode Calicut International Airport – Taxi options". www.kozhikodeairport.com. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  46. ^ "VT-DTH Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  47. ^ Narrow escape for AI passengers The Hindu 8 November 2008
  48. ^ a b Jolly, Asit (30 November 2012). "On a Wing and a Prayer". India Today. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  49. ^ Shooting incident International Business Times 11 June 2015
  50. ^ Engine failure: Narrow escape for 186 Air India flyers Times of India 25 April 2017
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