Thiruvananthapuram: The flight trial at the new international airport at Kannur in north Kerala, that is nearing completion, is expected to be carried out by December 31, State Minister in-charge of Airports K Babu said here Tuesday.
Talking to reporters after the General body meeting of Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL), Babu said even as some working days were lost due to various reasons like rain, the authorities are hopeful of carrying out the trial flying from the greenfield airport by December 31 by working over time.
Babu said some foreign airlines has shown interest to operate from the new airport."In order to compensate for the days lost, work is now progressing in three shifts so as to meet the December 31 deadline', he added.
Commercial operations from the airport are scheduled to commence from mid-2016.
Various Gulf sector airlines have shown interest in operating from the new airport, he said.
The total cost of the airport, the second under the PPP mode, is estimated at around Rs 1,892 crore.
Of this, a sum of Rs 892 crore was through bank loans and the balance through shares.
With the operation of the airport, Kerala will become the first state to have four international airports. The others are at Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.
The Kerala government has 35 per cent stake in the airport while various state and central government institutions also have a stake in the project.
The airport is coming up on 2,000 acres at Moorkhanparamba, about 25 km from Kannur.