Wide-bodied aircraft lands at Calicut airport
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Karipur: A wide-bodied aircraft from Saudi Arabia landed on Wednesday at Calicut International Airport first time in three years.
The Saudi Arabian Airlines from Jeddah with 282 passengers on board taxied to the runway at 11.10 am to a welcome water salute.
It was a jubilant moment for people in this part of Kerala. It was in May 2015 the Airports Authority of India (AAI) announced stalling of the operations of wide-bodied aircraft here.
The decision was made as per instruction of the Director General of Civil Aviation.
Citing safety guidelines, services were suspended for six months for re-carpeting work.
However later, wide-bodied aircraft got delayed citing various technical issues. This led to protests from people across Kozhikode and Malapuram who depended on the airport as gateway to West Asian countries.
The stalling came at a time when Calicut airport was one of the busiest in the nation. There were allegations that authorities with vested interests were trying to destroy the airport.