Kozhikode: Can parking ever become a multi- million dollar problem. For the airlines operating out of Karipur Airport it has turned out to be so. The lack of adequate aircraft parking bays are burning a hole in the pockets of airlines as many of them are forced to fly out the aircraft to other airports just for parking purpose.
For instance the Air India AI 962/963 Boeing 747 Jeddah- Kozhikode flight has to be taken to Kochi for parking incurring huge additional costs for the airline to the tune of Rs 26 lakhs per week. Currently the flight is operating additional trip to Mumbai.
Airline sources said that operating a 'dead leg' affects the very profitability of the route as it costs Rs 6-7 lakhs to fly one hour the aircraft would require around 2.5 tonnes of fuel just for take-off.
17/11/12 K R Rajeev/Times of India
