Thiruvananthapuram International Airport guide

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport serves the capital of Kerala from a site about 4 km from the city centre, close to the Arabian Sea coast. It was established in 1932 as the first airport in the state, and Tata Airlines flew the first commercial service in 1935. It is the second busiest airport in Kerala.

The airport has a single runway of about 3,400 m and covers roughly 650 acres. It shares the airfield with the Indian Air Force, which bases its Southern Air Command here. Air India also runs a Boeing 737 maintenance facility on site. Operations pause for several hours twice a year so that the temple procession of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple can cross the runway to the sea.

Adani Airports operates the airport. Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo and SpiceJet fly domestic routes, and Gulf carriers such as Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways link the airport with the Middle East. Services also run to Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, which makes the airport a gateway for the large Keralite community working overseas. Travellers use it for Kovalam beach and for Technopark, the IT campus about 13 km away.