The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to use Kozhikode and Kannur as backup airports to shift traffic from Kochi International during the latter airport's partial closure between November 20, 2019, and March 28, 2020, The Hindu has reported.

The closure will predominantly affect domestic flights. Most of the international operations in Kochi are scheduled during the night when the airport will remain open. The runway will be closed for resurfacing works daily between 1000LT and 1800LT.

Separately, the Kochi airport operator is in talks with airlines to reschedule at least some flights to avoid the cancellations.

The two airports already served as a backup for Kochi during last year's floods which forced the closure of Kerala's main gateway.

According to the ch-aviation capacities module, Kochi Int'l currently sees 638 weekly scheduled departures, while Kozhikode and Kannur have 256 and 155 weekly scheduled departures, respectively.

IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) is the largest airline in Kochi with a 32.3% market share by capacity. The LCC also serves the other two airports.

Thiruvananthapuram is the fourth active airport in Kerala in south India.