K S Shibu Kumar to pilot Kannur International Airport to glorious take-off

Kannur International Airport, situated 25 kilometers from Kannur and Thalaserry railway stations, arguably is the most modern airport under construction in India. Although it is situated on the northern tip of Kerala, it serves Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. With 6 aerobridges, 48 check-in counters, 16 immigration and customs counters, KIAL is equipped to handle one million passengers in the first year. This is expected to go up to 5 million passengers by the year 2025. On the sidelines of "Wings India" 2018 at Hyderabad, K S Shibu Kumar, the Chief Project Engineer of KIAL, spoke to Gautam Sen and answered his questions with elan.

KIAL is a company formed by Govt. of Kerala in 2010. Chairman of the company is the Chief Minister. I came in from Airports Authority of India on deputation and started working on the mandatory clearances from MHA, MOD, IMD, DGCA and the biggest challenge of clearance from Ministry of Environment and Forest. It's a PPP project on BOO model. 30 per cent is owned by Govt. of Kerala, 25 per cent BPCL and other small PSUs, 10 per cent AAI, balance 35 per cent is open to public. Another Rs. 892 crore came as consortium of Canara Bank, South Indian Bank & Federal Bank. We are short of Rs. 400 Crore which will be put up for IPO at a later date.

My experience of 8 years at Delhi airport trained me a lot on international airports. Another 8 years in Tiruvanthapuram allowed me to interact with the aviation industry closely. My colleagues, who are now heading various airports in India were consulted during the project. The team shortlisted from AAI workforce, has done a grand job in 4 years, considering that effectively we work half the year due to heavy rains.

Apart from the tourist point of view, it was a strategic decision for defence. We have a defence Enclave within KIAL. Spaces of 10 acres each has been earmarked for Airforce, Navy and Coast Guard to operate out of Kannur Airport. This has the shortest distance from the Gulf.

There is not one but many USPs of KIAL.

Truly an International Airport constructed on 2300 acres of land, KIAL is equipped to operate Code - E aircrafts (like B-777) and compatible with Code - F aircrafts (such as A-380). We have a parking stand and a double-decker aerobridge ready for Airbus A-380 to land and park. The runways are designed to expand to accommodate A-380 when required.

KIAL is going to be a hub for cargo in Kerala. Emirates has already scheduled 2 wide bodied aircrafts for Kannur Airport each day, one in the morning and the other in the evening. KIAL has 9,553 sqm of international air cargo complex, on modular format, expandable when required.

This airport is going to be the second international airport of Karnataka. Coorg is 45 minutes and Mysore is 4 hours from KIAL. From tourist standpoint, 50 per cent catchment is from Karnataka and other 50 per cent Kerala and Tamil Nadu combined. It also connects Bekal and Wayanad.

The Terminal building is built in a way that it integrates passengers from both domestic and international sector under one roof. The swing glass door allows the arrival section to be compartmentalized into international arrival when an international flight lands. Otherwise it is open to domestic passengers at other times.

We have called for Expression of Interest from companies which specialize in Line Maintenance to conduct mandatory checks when a flight lands. International airlines need not station their engineers and spares at Kannur; this maintenance company will conduct all necessary tasks. We are also in the process of signing MOUs with airlines to avail of such services. BPCL, who is out dedicated Aviation Fuel Provider, is commissioning a special container to cater to any aircraft requiring fuel.

India is soon going to have 900 new aircrafts. Indigo, Spicejet and Jet have ordered 300 new aircrafts each. Where are they going to park them? We have 20 parking bays ready and another 40 is getting ready. As invitation offer we are providing one year of free parking to all at Kannur Airport.

Ecom Asia is the South East Asia arm of its international aviation consultancy company based in the US. They are our consultants. In fact our unique approach of EPC (Engineering-Procurement-Construction) has been taken by AAI as a model format for all future airports. We were happy to hand over the construction to L & T.

Please elaborate on the road connectivity of Kannur Airport.

NHAI is building a 4 lane highway to Mysore. In fact there are six corridors being built from KIAL in various directions.

95,00 sqm of terminal building is 8th larget in India. KIAL is perhaps the first Indian airport to have Baggage Drop-in facility. Go to counter weight your baggage take the printout and head for the aircraft. If your baggage is excess weight, swipe your card and pay for your extra kilogram. We have left luggage and day boarding facility. In the basement of the airport passengers have shower and snooze facilitates, charged by the hour. Tourists can leave their luggage, take a shower and leave for Mysore or Coorg.

When Ministry of Civil Aviation opened the bid for Udaan, KIAL got the highest number of 24 bids. If a person is traveling from Tiruvanathapuram to Delhi, the he has to spend 3 days on train. But if he takes a train to Kannur and take an Udaan flight for Rs. 2500/- he is in Delhi in 2 hours. 30 per cent of all NRIs are from North Malabar, a great catchment area for airlines to tap the Gulf passengers, as Cochin and Calicut can't handle wide bodied aircrafts.

DGCA has certified KIAL. We are now awaiting ILS in June. Ideally we would like to open it around Onam of 2018, the auspicious festival of Kerala.