Kannur International Airport (KIAL) has all the potential to beat all other airports in Kerala in passenger and cargo traffic and it would offer exporters immense opportunity to enhance their business. the airport Managing Director V Thulasidas has said.    

Addressing a meeting organised by the North Malabar Chamber of Commerce in Kannur recently, Thulasida said that KIAL will handle around 3.85 million passengers a year by 2025, and cargo traffic will be around 37,239 metric tonne, he added.    

Last year, Thiruvananthapuram airport handled 3.3 million passengers and 53,000 metric tonne of cargo, while Calicut handled two million passengers and 23,000 metric tonne of cargo; in Cochin it was 5.2 million and 13,000 metric tonnne, respectively.    

The airport is planning a cost-effective airport and hence it would breakeven early, he said. As per available data, Kannur has the second largest population of the NRIs in the Gulf region. They would be the mainstay of the airport. People from Coorg, Mysore, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kozhikode districts too would give this airport business.    

The cargo sector in Kannur can serve the plantation-based economy of Coorg and Wayanad, as also the textile business in Kannur.    

Thulasidas said that Gulf is not the sole export market; The airport has to tap the European markets as well as the emerging markets of Africa. This airport will open new avenues for the export-oriented businesses, he added.