Calicut International Airport , also known as Kozhikode Airport or Karipur Airport, is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

located in Karipur, Malappuram district of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

, India. It serves the Malabar region of

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

, Malappuram, Wayanad and

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

. It is situated 28 kilometers away from

city and 25 kilometers away from Malappuram city. It serves two of the seven metropolitan areas in the state - Kozhikode metropolitan area and Malappuram metropolitan area. The airport opened on 13 April 1988. The airport serves as an operating base for Air India Express and operates Hajj Pilgrimage services to

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

and Jeddah from

. It is the twenty first–busiest airport in India in terms of overall passenger traffic and also the sixth-busiest airport in India after

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

in terms of international traffic. It received international airport status on 2 February 2006. It is one of a few airports in the country with a tabletop runway.

History

Early years

The airport was inaugurated in April 1988. In 1977, Calicut Airport was sanctioned due to long periods of struggle under the leadership of the late freedom fighter

K. P. Kesava Menon Kizhakke Potta Kesava Menon (1 September 1886 – 9 November 1978) was a patriot, idealist and Indian independence activist. Menon was the founder of ''Mathrubhumi'', a popular daily newspaper which earned the second place in circulation in ...

. In the 1990s, Gulf Malayalis played an important role in the development of the airport - they collected funds for the purpose when the Union Government claimed it did not have any. 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 an extension of the runway from 6,000 feet to 9,000 feet to facilitate the operation of large aircraft, were carried out with loans from the

HUDCO The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India in India. History This institution came into existence on 25 ...

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

Wide-body aircraft restrictions

Since 1 May 2015, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) imposed restrictions on the operation of wide-body aircraft such as Boeing 777 and

747 747 may refer to: * 747 (number), a number * AD 747, a year of the Julian calendar * 747 BC, a year in the 8th century BC * Boeing 747, a large commercial jet airliner Music and film * 747s (band), an indie band * ''747'' (album), by country musi ...

for a period of six months for runway recarpeting, which had been long overdue at this airport. As a result, Emirates,

Saudia Saudia ( ar, السعودية '), formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines (), is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. The airline's main operational base is at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. King Khalid Inte ...

and two

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed ...

Boeing 747 flight operations had to move temporarily to Cochin International Airport during this time. The airport authorities had expressed doubt about getting permission to operate wide-bodied aircraft from the airport, even after the completion of the recarpeting, for the runway in the airport is not large enough for the operation of jumbo aircraft. AAI had earlier instructed that all airports using widebody aircraft must have 240 m of RESA in each direction, whereas that of Calicut Airport must have 90 m. The airport director K Janardhanan said the short runway was a major hurdle in operating wide-bodied aircraft from the tabletop runway and the runway length should be extended from the current 2,850 m to 3,150 m to operate wide-bodied aircraft, he added. The major hurdle in extending the runway is the delay in acquiring the land which requires a total of of land for extending the runway and associated facilities. The state government has been finding the task difficult, for it requires relocation of 1,500 families living around the airport. As of 10 June 2016, not much action has been taken for land acquisition to help increase the runway length. The AAI decided to get a safety area ( RESA) to avoid the aircraft overrunning the end of the table-top runway. On 7 August 2020, wide-body aircraft have been banned from flying to CCJ after the crash of IX 1344, which overran the table-top runway. As of November 2020, the airport does not have the recommended Runway safety area or Engineered Materials Arresting System installed. The land acquisition procedures for runway development are progressing as of July 2022.

Reinstatement of wide-body aircraft operations

As advocated by various Malayali associations like KMCC, MCC and MDF and others, Gulf Malayalis, political parties, Kerala State Government and

MPs MPS, M.P.S., MPs, or mps may refer to: Science and technology * Mucopolysaccharidosis, genetic lysosomal storage disorder * Mononuclear phagocyte system, cells in mammalian biology * Myofascial pain syndrome * Metallopanstimulin * Potassium perox ...

from Malabar region, on 9 August 2018, DGCA gave approval for resuming wide-body aircraft (Code E category) operations from Calicut International Airport. In the beginning,

has been given permission to start nonstop flights to Jeddah and

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, Literal translation, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi Arabic, Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyad ...

, Boeing 777-200LR and Airbus A330-300. After three and a half years, the wide-body aircraft ( Airbus 330-300) of Saudi Arabian Airlines from Jeddah landed at Calicut International Airport at 11:04 (IST) on 5 December 2018. It flew back to Jeddah on the same day at 13:19 (IST). Saudia has also resumed its services to

from Calicut in December 2018. On 5 July 2019, Saudi Arabian Airlines flew with the Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A330-300 to CCJ. DGCA gave approval for wide-body aircraft operations of

from Calicut International Airport using

Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, target ...

, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-300ER, and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Emirates also secured approval from DGCA to operate Boeing 777-200LR and 777-300ER from Calicut. Air India already resumed its service with Boeing 747-400 Jumbo aircraft and with Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft. On 7 August 2020, an Air India Express flight overran the runway causing 21 people to perish. As a result, no wide-body aircraft has permission to fly to Calicut Airport, and as of 7 July 2022, runway renovation is in progress.

Statistics

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

The following cargo airlines fly to the airport: *

SpiceXpress SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline, budget airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is the second largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers carried, with a market share of 13.6% as of March 2019. The airline oper ...

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

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a Cities in India, city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city a ...

, and Wayanad, and towards the south to Malappuram,

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and ...

, and Coimbatore. ;Buses Kerala State Road Transport Corporation operates ''FlyBus'' (low-floor AC bus) services to the city of

from the airport. This is one of the cheapest available options to travel to the city. There are only a handful of these services so travelers looking for cheap options to travel can take an Auto-rickshaw to Airport Junction (2.8 km away) where buses are available to Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad etc. AirIndia Express Landing Calicut

;Rail The closest railway stations are Feroke railway station (around 18 kilometers from the airport), Parappanangadi railway station (around 20 kilometers from the airport), Tanur railway station (around 28 kilometers from the airport),

Kozhikode railway station Kozhikode railway station also known as Calicut railway station is one of the largest railway stations in the state of Kerala, India. At in financial year 2018–19, it is the largest in terms of passenger revenue in Palakkad division. The sta ...

(around 28 kilometers from the airport), Tirur railway station (around 34 kilometers away), and Angadipuram railway station (around 37 kilometres away), which are connected to all major cities in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. ;Taxis Pre-paid taxi services are available at the airport. The airport is also serviced by Uber and Ola Cabs, online cab aggregators providing various options to Calicut city and for Outstation journeys.

Accidents and incidents

* On 17 January 1969, a 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 the airport had been initialized as an air strip at "Chelari", a few kilometres away from the current location. * On 7 November 2008, Air India Flight 962, an Airbus 310 flying from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, scraped its right wingtip on the runway on landing. Parts of the plane's wing broke, leaving a mark on the runway. * 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. There were no casualties on board. * On 10 June 2015 an argument between Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) personnel at the airport escalated into firearm discharging, leading to one person's death and serious injuries to two others late on Wednesday night. * On 25 April 2017, Air India Flight 937, an

A321-200 suffered an engine failure during takeoff, the aircraft temporarily lost directional control due to asymmetric thrust resulting in a left tyre burst when it impacted the runway edge lighting. The takeoff was aborted and the flight cancelled. * On 4 August 2017, a SpiceJet Bombardier Dash 8 skidded on landing and damaged the ILS beacons. * On 7 August 2020, Air India Express Flight 1344 crashed upon landing at Calicut from

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

during poor weather. After landing, the aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, overran the tabletop runway, skidding off the end of the runway and crashing into a gorge. A total of 21 people, including both pilots, were killed in the crash. 15 people aboard were in critical condition and survived later. The aircraft had been carrying out a repatriation flight under the Vande Bharat Mission.

References

External links

Calicut International Airport
at Airports Authority of India {{Navboxes , title = Articles Related to Calicut International Airport , list = {{Portalbar, India, Aviation {{Airports in India {{Tourism in Kerala {{South Malabar {{Malabar Airports in Kerala Buildings and structures in Malappuram district Transport in Kozhikode Airports established in 1988 1988 establishments in Kerala