Calicut International Airport, also known as Karipur Airport, is located at Karipur in the Malappuram district, near Kozhikode (Calicut), Kerala, India.The airport is located 26 km (16 mi) from the Calicut Railway Station and 27 km (17 mi) from the town of Manjeri, with the closest railway station being at Feroke. It is the 12th busiest airport in India in terms of passenger traffic and 11th in cargo handling.
Calicut Airport is one of the three international airports located in Kerala. Calicut airport was given the status of international airport on February 2, 2006, thereby paving the way for the improvement of the infrastructure there for handling international flights.
The airport was sanctioned after a long period of struggle which began in 1977 under the leadership of freedom fighter K. P. Kesava Menon. Funds were collected from Gulf Malayalis for its development in the 1990s when the Union Government said it did not have funds. To raise the funds needed for airport development, the Malabar International Airport Development Society was formed. Later major developments of facilities, such as extension of runway from 6,000 ft (1,800 m) to 9,000 ft (2,700 m) to facilitate operation of wide-body aircraft were carried out with loans from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). A user fee was also introduced to pay back the loans.
Since then, facilities at the airport have been greatly increased by the Airports Authority of India. There has also been a steady increase in the volume of passenger traffic from the airport.
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