Kochi, December 9: Operations at the newly inaugurated Kannur International Airport in Kerala commenced on Sunday as the airport's first commercial aircraft took off to Abu Dhabi. According to a tweet by ANI,  an Air India Express flight took off from Kannur International Airport to Abu Dhabi, making Kerala the only state in India to have four international airports. Union Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the airport on Sunday morning. The strategically located airport offers convenience and connectivity to the people of North Kerala and South Karnataka. GoAir to Start Flight Services to Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai From Kannur. 

With the new airport being operational on Sunday, Kerala has four international airports- in Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. Reports inform that the Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL) can handle around 2,000 passengers at a time. The airport is believed to serve more than 1.5 million international passengers yearly.

According to a report by Indian Express, two flights operated by GoAir are also scheduled to leave for Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram later in the day. Reports informed that when the first flight schedule was announced two weeks back, all tickets were sold in 50 minutes. The Rs 1,892 crore-airport located at Mattanur, near Kannur is built on 2,000 acres of land.

Suresh Prabhu and Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurate the airport; Watch Video

The inauguration of the airport witnessed a controversy after Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah’s chartered flight landed there on October 27. According to a report by Hindustan Times, several BJP workers claimed that Shah had inaugurated the airport. However, state finance minister T M Thomas Issac made it clear that the state had shown its tradition of hospitality by permitting him to land at the airport which was not officially opened.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 09, 2018 12:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).