UAE passengers thrilled to fly all the way to Kannur
abu dhabi — It will be a vacation to remember for several Malayalee expats as they became the first to fly from Abu Dhabi to the Kannur International Airport on Sunday afternoon. The mood at the Abu Dhabi International Airport’s Terminal 1 was celebratory as passengers arrived “to become part of history”.
At 1.30pm, 160 passengers took off to Kannur aboard the Air India Express flight IX715. The flight had landed in Abu Dhabi at 12.30pm, carrying the first 180 passengers to fly out of Kerala’s fourth airport.
Mohamed Nishad, a Sharjah resident, who received the flight’s first boarding pass, said: “It feels like I am flying home for the first time. And it literally is.
“People like me had to always land in Kozhikode or Cochin and travel many hours to reach home and meet our families,” added Nishad, a native of Mattanur, where
the Kannur airport is located.
Senior officials from the Abu Dhabi airport and Air India Express were present for the formal inauguration that saw a ribbonand cake-cutting ceremony.
In the arrivals lounge, garlands, bouquets and gifts awaited the passengers who landed from Kannur. “For the first time, I could fly from an airport that was just 30 minutes away from home,” Abu Dhabi resident Jayachandran Ravari told Khaleej Times minutes after landing.