Kottayam: A new survey has been launched to find a longer stretch of land for the proposed Sabarimala Airport’s runway at Cheruvally Estate in Kerala’s Kottayam district. The move followed a recent meeting convened by V Thulasidas, special officer for the airport project, which expressed doubts about the 2.7-kilometer-long runway stretch suggested in the project’s preliminary report.
Participants at the meeting pointed out that the runways at Kochi Airport in Nedumbassery and the Thiruvananthapuram Airport were 3.4 km long. The runway at Kannur Airport is 3.05 kilometres long and can be extended to 4 kilometres. It was felt that constructing an airport with a 2.7-kilometer runway would have an effect on Sabarimala Airport’s future development. Moreover, the participants stated that obtaining Central Government approval for the airport project would be difficult if the runway length was 2.7 kilometres.
Incidentally, Kerala’s application to construct the Sabarimala Airport was rejected by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry a few months ago, citing technical reasons.
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