Aranmula airport work to start in two weeks

Kochi: Work on the country’s first private international airport, at Aranmula in southern Kerala, is set to begin in a few days’ time, according to KGS Aranmula International Airport Ltd managing director Gigi George.

The project which has recently obtained all the approvals, including that of the environment ministry, is currently awaiting a decision of the state government which proposed having a stake in the venture.
However, the work would start in a fortnight, and the airport would see flights landing by December, 2014, he said on Wednesday.

George dismissed the opposition to the project from various corners as of no consequence, saying that since all the clearances were obtained, there would be no hitch as such. The plan is to invest Rs 550 crore in the first phase. The total project cost is Rs 2,000 crore, of which Rs 1,300 crore would be debt and the rest through capital and promoter contribution.

The KGS Group, which is into construction, infrastructure development, hospital chains and paper manufacture, has acquired 700 acres of land for the airport project. It is claimed to generate direct employment for 1,500 people and indirect employment for over 6,000 persons.

The terminal would handle 1,000 passengers at a time, and see the landing of big aircraft. It would be a boost to pilgrimage tourism as the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala is just an hour’s drive from Aranmula, situated in Pathanamthitta district, off a diversion from the MC Road. Sabarimla sees a turnout of 6 crore pilgrims a year.

Also, Aranmula is close to the centre for the annual Maramon convention of Christians, and the Cherukolpuzha Hindu meet.Air traffic in the state has multiplied five times in the last eight years to touch 1 crore passengers a year. Around 40 per cent of the non-resident Keralites has their family base in and around the area.

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