Kannur International Airport (Kial) is scheduled to soon commence operations. As per a new report, with the Instrument Landing System (ILS) all set up, Kial will soon be soon in service. Also, given that the Kannur International Airport is a greenfield airport, then a trial landing of bigger aircraft has been mandated. Following that, Kial should be back on track again. A senior official also added his words saying that the airport is ready for operations. He further remarked that a date would be finalized after consulting with the concerned authorities. To recall, other Airports in Kerala like Cochin Airport have just recovered from the massive flood crisis and regaining their stability.
Automated Weather Observing System at Kannur International Airport
Notably, the new equipment deployed at Kannur International Airport has been set up by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The work for the installation is still going in Kial as of now. The IMD, in support with National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) has taken it upon itself to install the AWOS. The body will work on the guidelines of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and will be spending approximately 3 crores to set up the AWOS at Kial. Notably, Kannur International Airport is the fourth international airport in the state.
Note only that the Flight Schedules from Kannur International Airport are out.
Runway Visual Range at Kannur International Airport
The new facility will be set up in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower and at the end of Runway 25. In addition to the AWOS, the system will also have Runway Visual Range (RVR) which is being called as Drishti. This new RVR system, Drishti, is an indigenously developed visibility measuring mechanism designed and fabricated by the NAL. The official talking about this new development highlighted that the new equipment would be cheaper compared to the imported ones. He further informed that the system would measure parameters like wind speed, wind direction, pressure, temperature, dew point, and relative humidity.
The installation of the equipment at Kannur International Airport (Kial) is being led by Arul Paligan A, scientist, NAL, and J.K.S. Yadav, Scientist-D, IMD. The Kial authorities have estimated that the airport will be commercially operational by October-end. Kannur International Airport has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for AWOS with the IMD. This MoU will be valid for three years. After three years, the MoU will be renewed. The IMD has also taken the responsibility for managing the equipment in this time frame.
