There are two airports in Kerala and one more will become operational as Kannur international airport has been granted its location code. Work is progressing fast and the Kannur airport is expected to start operations by mid-2018.

The airport which will be commissioned next year has got the three-letter location code from the IATA (International Air Transport Association).

P Bala Kiran, managing director of Kannur International Airport (KIAL) disclosed that the location code of the new airport is ‘CNN’ which is short for CaNNanore as the locals call the place. He said that KIAL wanted ‘KN” as the code, but it was not available.

The location code is important as it is exclusive to every airport in the world and it is like what Aadhar is for an individual. Bala Kiran also informed that the new website of KIAL, with the '.aero' domain name will be put up soon and its URL will be 'kannurairport.aero'.

He added that work on the terminal will be completed by October and the runway would be ready by December - January. Then, a license must be obtained from the Aerodrome Licensing Authority of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation after their inspection. Also, the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the airport has to be finalized by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) using the calibration flight, which would be done in a few months after the conclusion of the civil works.

According to KIAL authorities, once the airport becomes fully operational, it is expected to handle 4.67 million passengers and 60,758 metric tonnes of cargo in a year, with 39,638 aircraft movements.