KOZHIKODE: The ban on wide-bodied aircraft landing in Calicut International Airport at Karipur from May 1, 2015, has hit exports and imports from Malabar badly. Earlier its cargo handling was around 80 to 100 metric tonne which has now come down to 30 metric tonnes a day, resulting in a price crunch for fruits like banana, pineapple and jackfruit, apart from spices from high ranges. Big aircraft were operating for almost a decade from the tabletop airport opened in 1988 and got the international tag in 2006, until the closure.
They included Boeing 777s and 747s. The first international flight was to Sharjah. Malabar Development Council president C.E. Chakkunny said it had topped the chart among the airports of the state in cargo. “Earlier there were more than hundred cargo handling agencies, a majority of them shifted to Kochi now,” he told DC. "The cargo space on small aircraft is minimal." Earlier, it used to export 4000 kg of Kozhikodan halwa to Sharjah alone. P.K. Haris of KR Vegetable agencies, Sulthan Bathery, said his team had regularly sourced vegetables from Wayanad and Ooty.
"Now farmers of Thrissur and Pollachi may be benefitted as the exports have shifted to Kochi,” he said. Emirates and Air India used to carry up to 26 tonnes of cargo whereas. The ban came as the takeoff-landing distance available here is only 2850 meters with deep valley immediately after the runway end safety area (RESA). The post-runway safety area is only 90 X 90 metres instead of 240 X 90 metres the court of inquiry on the Air India crash at Mangalore airport specified for tabletop airports.
