Kannur International Airport

Kannur International Airport
കണ്ണൂർ അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര വിമാനത്താവളം
Kannur Airport
IATA: none – ICAO: VOKN
Summary
Airport type Public limited
Owner Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL)
Operator Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL)
Serves Kannur, Thalassery
Location Mattanur, Kerala, India
Coordinates 11°55′12″N 75°32′53″E / 11.919885°N 75.548043°E / 11.919885; 75.548043Coordinates: 11°55′12″N 75°32′53″E / 11.919885°N 75.548043°E / 11.919885; 75.548043
Website www.kannurairport.in
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25 4,000 13,123 Asphalt

Kannur International Airport (IATA: -, ICAO: VOKN) (Malayalam: കണ്ണൂർ അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര വിമാനത്താവളം) is an upcoming International Airport under construction at Mattanur in Kannur District, 25 kilometers from the cities Kannur and Thalassery, in the state of Kerala, India. It is being built on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model by the Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL).

Once completed it will be the fourth and largest international airport in Kerala after Calicut, Cochin and Trivandrum making it the only state in India to have four international airports. Kannur International Airport will be the second greenfield airport to be set up in Kerala. The project is spread over 2,000 acres (810 ha).

Kannur International Airport will provide an international gateway in the northern Malabar region with state-of-the art facilities to support safe, efficient and cost effective travel for foreign tourists and ‘non-resident’ Indians from Kerala, as well as domestic passenger. Expected aircraft movements over the next decade is 39,638 p.a.with peak aircraft movement at 18 per hour. The airport is also expected to act as a cargo hub for the northern-Malabar region.

Trial landing operation was conducted successfully at the airport in presence of the Kerala Chief Minister and other ministers amidst heavy media coverage on 29 February 2016 and the 3050 m runway was completed in the end of April 2016.

Although the Government wants to open the airport by September 2016, L&T said this will only be possible by early 2017.[1] As per the India Airports Vision 2020, the commercial operations of Kannur International Airport is expected to start on 31 August 2017.

History

The proposal of the Greenfield Airport at Kannur was initiated in 1997. The Government of Kerala appointed Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) as a Nodal agency in January 1998 for implementation of the project. The latter was appointed to undertake feasibility studies which were submitted to the Government of India in 2005. The proposal for the development of the ‘Kannur International Airport’ received ‘in principle’ approval from the Ministry of Civil Aviation in February 2008. "Kannur International Airport Limited" (KIAL) was founded in December 2009. The foundation stone for the Airport was laid on 17 December 2010.

Airport project

The airport will be built on 2,000 acres (810 ha) acres 25 km from Kannur. The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) submitted the detail project report in May 2012 and subsequently Aecom Asia modified the Master Plan in August 2013. On November 2013 L&T was chosen to construct the runway, passenger terminal buildings and ATC building. The construction work commenced in November 2013.

Passenger Terminal Building

The Passenger Terminal Building of Kannur International Airport features 900,000 sq.ft as total area of the PTB. Peak house capacity will be around 2000 (Domestic and International) with a capacity of 5 million passengers per annum. There will 24 Check-in counters, 32 Immigration/Emigration counters, 16 custom counters in the PTB. Passenger amenities include Dutyfree shops, Food courts and retail facilities. Green building concept has been adopted in design of the building. Future plans include Future plans include 2500 peak hour capacity. The terminal will use energy efficient LED lighting.

Passenger Boarding Bridges

There will be 3 passenger boarding bridges (PBB) one designed for the Airbus A380 when operations start with provision for 3 additional PBB in phase II. The airport will be fully capable to handle the Airbus A380 from day 1 of commercial operations.

Aerodrome Reference

Aerodrome reference for the airport is Code 4E. Critical aircraft are Boeing 777-300ER, 787, 747, Airbus A350, A330.

Runway

The runway length of Kannur International Airport will be 4000 m (13,123 ft). At the start of commercial operations, the runway length is set at 3050 m (10,010 ft) as part of Phase I and gradually extended in Phase II & III. Construction of the 3050 m runway started in Q4 2013 and was successfully completed at the end of April 2016.[2] The orientation of the runway is 07/25, which permits obstacle free approach. Runway width is 45 m. RESA 90 m x 240 m.

3050 m Runway Ready

On 1 May 2016, the 3050 m runway was confirmed to be completed.[2] It took only 60 days to complete the runway to 3050 m from the 2400 m completed prior to the trial landing operation which was conducted on 29th, February, 2016.

Future Runway Extension Plan & Second Runway

The runway will be further extended to 3400 m (11,154 ft) in Phase II and further extended up to 4000 m (13,123 ft) runway in Phase III. The runway extension to 4000 m was announced during the Kerala Budget on 12 February 2016 which came as a surprise due to problems of land acquisition when the 3400 m extension was proposed.[3] Once the extension to 4000m is completed,

Kannur will be the fourth Airport in India to have a runway length of 4000 m after Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The parallel taxi way will be extended to full length of the runway in Phase II including 2 rapid exit.

Additional land is being acquired for a second runway planned in the Phase III in Valiyaparamba. It is 1 km north across the Kannur-Mattannur road. Moorkhanparamba and Valiyaparamba has to be connected using a flyover which will be an engineering challenge. It is long term plan and second runway construction is not expected until 2040 and will be based on requirement. Land acquisition is being made beforehand.

Trial landing operation

In February, 2016, The airport had obtained mandatory DGCA clearance for test flight and on 16 February 2016 on the 2400 m runway which was completed at the time. The Government announced that it will conduct test flight from the airport on 29 February 2016 with an aircraft belonging to the Defence Ministry.

On 29 February 2016 at 0906 hrs, The trial landing operation was successfully completed at Kannur International Airport by a Dornier 228 aircraft from the Indian Airforce registration number - VUBFN with Air Marshal R. Nambiar, a native of Kannur and co-pilot Wing Commander Vipin Neni from Pune at the controls.[4] The Chief Minister and Ministers K. Babu, K.C. Joseph, and K.P. Mohanan received the pilots after the landing. Thousands of people had thronged the project site to witness the event and was greeted by applause by the huge cheering crowd. After a brief halt at the airfield the aircraft departed back to its home base Air Force Station Yelhanka at 1114 hrs.

IACO Code

As per the status report as of 1 April 2016 in the official website of Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL), the lACO code has been registered as VOKN.

Cargo Terminal

The airport will act as a cargo hub for the Northern-Malabar region which has long been neglected. The cargo capacity over the next decade is expected to be 60,758 tons per year.

Other Facilities in the Airport

Apron

The Apron at the airport will have 20 parking bays - Code C, 817 m x 153 m. Future plans include additional 12 bays of apron expansion.

Navigation Aid Facilities

Navigation aid facilities include DVOR/DME, ILS Cat. I, ADS-B.

Electrical & Lighting Systems

Fuel Farm Business

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) will run the fuel farm business at Kannur International Airport in a joint venture with KIAL. The work for fuel farm is progressing at the site.

Recent Development

On 1 May 2016, the phase one runway of 3050 m was confirmed to be completed. All efforts are in place to complete the roofing workings of Kannur International Airport before the onset of the monsoon which is expected on 1st, June 2016. About 68% of the passenger terminal building was completed. Other structures nearing completion include the control tower, fire stations on the east and west side.[2]

Expected Commercial Operations

Although the Government wants to open the airport by September 2016, L&T said this will only be possible by early 2017.[1] As per the India Airports Vision 2020, the commercial operations of Kannur International Airport is expected to start on 31 August 2017.

Infrastructure and connectivity

Road

Kannur Airport is located at a distance of 25 km from Kannur Town. The airport location is 19 kilometers away from National Highway 17 (NH-17) and 4 kilometers away from Tellicherry-Mysore Highway (SH-30).

More than 8 roads are to be developed for connecting to the Airport, which includes Kannur (Melechovva)-Mattannur road, Thalassery-Mattannur road, Thalassery–Anjarakandy–Airport road, Thalassery–Nadapuram Road, Karnataka Border -Iritty – Mattannur Road, Wayanad (Mananthavadi) – Nedumpoil – Mattannur road, Payyanur/Ezhimala–Mattannur road, Thalassery–Mahe Bypass road, Dharmasala,Kannur - Mattannur road etc.[5]

Thalassery–Mattannur road will be upgraded to 4/6 lanes, considering the availability of required land for widening. Other related roads will be widened and upgraded with high quality surfacing and constructing new bridges and culverts. Approximately, Rs.3 billion are expected as the cost for the development of access roads to the Airport.

As of 1 May 2016, development of the road project to Kannur International Airport is yet to gain momentum.

Rail

The main Railway line from Kanyakumari to Mumbai is nearest to Airport and it is situated in between Thalasserry and Kannur railway station. Rail linking Thalassery with Mysore will facilitate multi-modal access to the airport. The state government is pursuing discussions with the Central Ministry of Railways on a proposal for 'Kannur International Airport Railway Station' which was approved in the railway budget of 2016.[6] Survey is on for the land required for this project.

Cost

Total cost of the project is expected to be ₹31.99 billion (US$480 million), including peripheral structures such as staff housing, a convention centre, and a shopping centre. The project will be implemented on a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) basis and on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model. The Kannur International Airport will be set up by a Government led consortium. 35% of equity will be with the Government of Kerala, 23% with Public Sector Undertakings, 26% with Airport PSU's and remaining 16% with private individuals and institutions. The Phase 1 project cost would be approximately 1892 crores including the cost of land. The development of the infrastructure project will be through global tenders in Engineering, Procurement and constructions (EPC )Model

Airlines and destinations

An Emirates Boeing 777 flight

One of the world's biggest international carrier Emirates,[7] based in UAE will be operating international flights from Kannur. The UAE based airline has sought permission to start services between Dubai and Kannur with 5000 seats per week. The UAE Civil Aviation Authority Director General Mohammed A. Ahli even wrote to Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Chaubey stating the interest of the airlines in launching its services to the airport as soon as it becomes operational. Moreover, Emirates is not the only airlines to approach the Kannur international airport authorities, many other foreign airlines including Bahrain's Gulf Air, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia, FlyDubai, Saudia, Etihad Airways, Maldivian Airlines have sought permission to operate flights to the international airport.

Indian carriers such as Air India Express and SpiceJet[8] have reported interest to operate. Other Indian carriers expected to operate from Kannur would be Air India, Jet Airways, Vistara and Indigo Airlines.

Solar Power System

Taking cue from the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), the Kannur International Airport, is looking sun-ward to meet its energy needs. The initiative will begin in a small way with a one-megawatt (MW) project near the airport terminal.[9]

A solar field in Cochin International Airport. Similar one will be built at Kannur Airport

KIAL has already invited EoI for the 1-MW project, which will meet some of its internal power needs. This first step in the solar way is expected to cost the airport Rs 4 to Rs 5 crore.

Statistics

According to a detailed project report prepared by CIAL in 2015, 610,000 domestic passengers, and 1.32 million international passengers are expected to use the airport.

The number of passenger estimated to use the airport in 2021 is 2.94 million. Number of international passengers are expected to be 2.03 million and domestic passengers will be 0.91 million.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Profile on Kannur Airport". CAPA. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "3,050-m runway ready in Kannur". The Hindu. 2016-05-01. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  3. ↑ "Kannur airport facing land acquisition hurdle - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  4. ↑ "Kannur trial landing a success". The Hindu. 2016-03-01. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  5. ↑ "Work on road to Kannur airport to be speeded up". The Hindu. 2016-01-21. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  6. ↑ "New line to link Kannur airport". http://www.deccanchronicle.com/. Retrieved 2016-04-06. External link in |website= (help)
  7. ↑ "Emirates looks to flying into Kannur". http://www.deccanchronicle.com/. Retrieved 2016-04-06. External link in |website= (help)
  8. ↑ Administrator, System. "SpiceJet plans flights from Dubai to Hyderabad, Jaipur and Kannur". Emirates 24|7. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  9. ↑ "KIAL Looks Sunward for Power Needs". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2016-05-05.

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