Stronger regulation

Airport infrastructure needs to prioritise safety

The crash of an Air India Express plane flying from Dubai to Kozhikode, which has claimed at least 18 lives and left dozens more in critical condition, has once again highlighted questions about safety at several Indian airports. Kozhikode airport is what is called a “tabletop” airport, like Mangalore airport, where India’s last major air accident took place in 2010; another tabletop airport in Kerala is at Kannur. Tabletop airports are constructed by flattening the top of a hill, and are lifelines in places which have hilly or mountainous terrain. Just last year, an Air India Express flight from Dubai