Calicut airport: Kerala govt seeks more time to transfer land to AAI

New Delhi: The Kerala government has sought more time to complete the process of land transfer to AAI for having a runway-end safety area at Calicut airport that had witnessed a fatal aircraft crash in 2020, according to a senior official. The development comes a little over a month after Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shot off a strong letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, saying that if the land was not handed over to AAI, the ministry will proceed with necessary action for curtailing the length of the runway for safe aircraft operations at the airport from August 1.

Kerala govt will need more time to transfer land to AAI: CM

Against this backdrop, the Kerala Chief Minister has informed the minister that the state government will need some more time to complete the process of transferring the land and sought a few more weeks, the official at the ministry told PTI on Tuesday.

The state government has also told the ministry that a special rehabilitation package for the land owners, over and above the stipulated requirements, is being offered, the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Calicut airport

The airport at Calicut, also known as Kozhikode, is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Currently, only narrow-body aircraft are operating at the airport. In the wake of the deadly crash of an Air India Express aircraft on August 7, 2020, at the airport, a Central government-appointed expert panel recommended that the state government may be requested to provide filled-up levelled land for the provision of Runway End Safety Area (RESA).

Besides, the panel had said that in case the required land is not made available, the runway length should be reduced to provide the required RESA of 240 metres from the ends of the runway strip for undershooting and overshooting of aircraft. With the delay in handing over the required land, Scindia, in a letter dated June 26, to Vijayan had expressed "deep anguish regarding the inordinate delay".

"... the ministry is left with no choice but to proceed with the necessary action of curtailing the runway length for the safe aircraft operation at Calicut airport from 01.08.2023 unless the land is handed over to AAI immediately," Scindia said. The provisioning of RESA would take around three years after the land is handed over to AAI, he noted.

In the August 2020 Boeing plane crash, more than 20 people were killed, including 2 pilots, and several others were injured. There were 190 people onboard the aircraft, coming from Dubai, that overshot the runway at Calicut airport amid light rain before breaking into pieces.

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