The runway expansion of two international airports in Kerala – Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode – seems to have caught the State in a bind. The delay in providing land for the expansion of the runway end safety area (RESA) – a projected area at both ends of the runway to limit the consequences if an aircraft overruns runway end during landing or aborted take-off – by 240 m on both sides has resulted in the Ministry of Civil Aviation issuing warnings to the State government.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior government bureaucrat said the issue faced by the Kozhikode airport would be settled soon as the State government and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) have arrived at an agreement about shouldering the expenses required for acquiring around 14.5 acres. As per the understanding, the State will bear the cost required for land acquisition and hand it over to the AAI. The State has estimated a budget of ₹170 crore for this.
The main issue related to Kozhikode is protests by people in the identified areas near the airport. “People residing in the area have already been displaced twice in connection with the airport development. This is the third time they are going to be displaced for further development. They have a clear point in their protests. So the State has decided to provide them a higher compensation this time, but it has to be ratified by the Cabinet. Once the package is approved by the government, there will not be any delay in handing over the land to the AAI,” he said.
In the case of the Thiruvananthapuram airport where the RESA length has to be increased to 150 m, the issue cannot be solved easily as the airport is already privatised. Here, 12 acres adjacent to the runway owned by the Chakka fire station and BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd has to be acquired for the expansion works, and 18 acres for the terminal building expansion. The airport operator, the Adani Group, is ready to bear the expenses for the land acquisition, but the State has to acquire the land and hand it over to the operator, according to AAI sources.
Technical issues
The issue is that the airport was awarded to Adani Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (ATIAL) to operate, manage and develop it for a period of 50 years, and hence providing land for a private operator, who is supposed to return the airport to the AAI after 50 years of operation, raises some technical issues.
Further, the State is in a difficult position to provide land for a private operator after earlier opposing the privatisation tooth and nail.
