Thiruvananthapuram, third international airport to receive aerodrome licence

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's international airport at Thiruvananthapuram has become the third airport in the country to obtain an aerodrome licence from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for its adherence to safety and security standards.

The airport now becomes the third, after the metro airports at Chennai and Kolkatta, to receive the mandatory licence for operating aircraft, which is mandatory under international aviation standards. Effective from November 2005, a licence from the DGCA is mandatory for all airports in the country if they are to carry to carry out flight operations. The licence is valid for six months.

The aerodrome licence is issued on the basis of a security and safety audit carried out by a team of officials from the DGCA directorate in New Delhi. The inspection focused mainly on ground flight safety, such as the safety of runways, aprons and approach lights amongst other things.

Meanwhile, as per the latest traffic figures, the international airport witnessed a 94.8 per cent increase in aircraft movement in January 2007 compared to the same period last year, logging 954 movements in January 2006 as against 1,858 movements in January this year. According to airport officials, the increase in domestic aircraft movements through the airport had been an astounding 225 per cent.

The movement of domestic aircraft had gone up from 284 in January 2006 to 924 in January this year.

In the case of passenger movement through the airport, there has been a 46.9 per cent increase in January 2007.