Businesspersons from Kannur demand access for foreign airlines to airport

Only Air India and IndiGo serve Kannur airport, leaving us with fewer options, say local businesspeople protesting at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi

A small group of people from Kannur in Kerala, comprising hoteliers, tour operators and architects, sat in protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital on Tuesday (December 17, 2024) to press for their demand to grant “point of call” (POC) status for Kannur airport, which would allow international airlines to provide direct flights to it.

The group said they had met Union Minister for Civil Aviation Rammohan Naidu and presented their memorandum seeking POC status for Kannur airport on the ground that it had been granted recently to Mopa airport in Goa that started operations in January 2023, as well as Bagdogra airport in West Bengal, and the Bhogapuram airport in Andhra Pradesh which is set to start flights in 2026.

Issue of fare at Kannur airport

“Indian airlines have a ‘monopoly’ at the Kannur airport, but they are not strong enough to deploy more aircraft and increase flights. On some days, a flight from Kannur to Dubai could cost you up to ₹30,000, whereas from Kozhikode airport, which is only 100 km away and is served by international airlines, the fare will be one-third this cost. Indian airlines also don’t operate the ‘business class’ in their passenger cabin,” Rasid Kunhi Paral, a tour operator, said. Mr. Paral is also the coordinator of the group that calls itself ‘Team Historical Flight Journey’ because they were part of the launch flight from Kannur to Abu Dhabi on December 9, 2018.

While IndiGo and Air India Express connect the airport to destinations in the Gulf region, there wasn’t, for instance, any direct connectivity to destinations in the Southeast Asian region or Singapore, Mr. Paral said.

Granting POC status for their airport

Though several cities are demanding POC status for their airports, including Chandigarh in Punjab, Vijayawada airport in Andhra Pradesh, and Mangaluru airport in Karnataka, the Union government has maintained that it needs to safeguard the interests of Indian airlines so that international airlines do not take passenger traffic away from them. Several countries, including Singapore, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Türkiye, have also sought more POCs in India to enable them to expand their network in the country, along with increased allocation of seats they could fly on Indian routes under air service agreements.

“At present, the Government of India promotes more international operations by Indian carriers from non-metro points either directly or through their own domestic operations,” Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in the Rajya Sabha on November 25, in response to questions on the Kannur airport from Communist Party of India (CPI) MP Santhosh Kumar and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP John Brittas.

It also added that the decision to grant POC to foreign carriers depended on several factors, including the presence of Indian diaspora in that country, future plans of Indian carriers, reciprocity, balance of benefits, and other relevant factors between two countries. In the past, the government had also said that interior parts of the country were not being offered to foreign carriers because of imbalance in operations, where Indian carriers did not have as much access overseas as the airlines of those countries have in India.

Non-Resident Indian (NRI) population in Kannur

“There is a need for flexible aviation policies instead of a one-size-fits all approach for a country as diverse as India,” Jayadevan Malgudi, a hotelier who is part of the delegation from Kannur, said. Mr. Malgudi said that Kerala’s huge Non-Resident Indian (NRI) population, of which 25% are from the Kannur region, as well as its tourism potential, including demand for ‘Ayurveda tourism’ from Gulf countries, necessitated access to foreign carriers to ensure economic prosperity in the region. Kannur is also close to well-known hill stations, including Coorg and Ooty, which are at a drive of two to five hours from the airport.

Kannur airport opened for flight operations in December 2018. The facility is owned by a consortium in which the Kerala government owns 32.86% stake, 22.54% stake is held by State and Central Public Sector Undertakings, and the Airports Authority of India owns 9.39%, among others. The airport is currently served only by IndiGo and Air India Express.

The demand has resurfaced at a time when the Union government is keen on developing Indian airports as hubs, and supporting Indian airlines in providing direct connectivity to long-haul destinations. As a result, the government hasn’t accepted demands from many foreign governments for a review of air service agreements, so that their airlines could send more flights and add more destinations in India.

Published - December 17, 2024 09:42 pm IST