JEDDAH – The Airports Authority of India's decision to partially close Calicut International Airport in Karipur for six months from May 1 has left hundreds of thousands of expatriates from the Malabar region of Kerala jittery as their travel plans for the peak summer season have been affected. On account of the recarpeting of the runway, all wide-bodied aircraft will be banned from the airport, which will also be closed for all flights between 12 noon and 8 p.m. until Oct. 31. The airport authority will allow rerouting of all affected flights to Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery, 155 km south of Calicut. Air IndiaJeddah Manager Feroz Khan told Saudi Gazette that the national carrier would reroute all flights using wide-bodied aircraft to Nedumbassery. “A decision on streamlining the service will be made known in the next few days and the online system will be open for reservation of tickets accordingly,” he said. Major airline companies operating from various Gulf destinations to Calicut such as Emirates, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Qatar Airways are currently considering alternative arrangements in the wake of the partial closure of the Calicut airport, according to sources. Emirates has only wide-bodied aircraft in its fleet and it would be forced to stop all operations to Calicut whereas Saudi Arabian Airlines could either stop operations or use smaller aircraft, they said. The travel agencies have not received any official information from the Indian authorities so far with regard to the new arrangements, according to Mohammed Saeed, manager of the Jeddah branch of Akbar Gulf Travels of India. “We have reserved tickets for a large number of passengers to Calicut sector well before closing the booking for the six-month period. We did not receive any information from the airlines or the concerned authorities about rerouting of flights or refunding of tickets,” he told Saudi Gazette. Basheer Pulikkal of Al-Amoudi Holidays said the booking system for Calicut for most of the airlines, including Air India, Saudia and Emirates, have been closed for two weeks. “We can book tickets only on Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways, besides India's Jet Airways to Calicut,” he said. Calicut is the seventh busiest airport in India in terms of international traffic and is often touted as the gateway to the Malabar (north Kerala) region. The partial closure of the airport coincides with the summer school vacation in all the six Gulf states, in addition to the peak Umrah and Haj seasons as well as the Eid and Onam festivals. Many expatriates voiced their displeasure over the bad timing for the airport's closure and said this will further exacerbate their travel woes. The passengers, most of them women and children, will have to travel hundreds of kilometers by road to reach their destinations in different parts of Malabar. There are apprehensions that restrictions at the airport will force airline companies operating small aircraft to reschedule their current operations, which will cause problems for connecting passengers. The ban on large aircraft will also adversely affect the cargo movement.
