Karipur airport project faces roadblock because efforts to acquire the required 137 acre of land for airport development and an additional 20 acre for rehabilitating displaced families have been hanging fire owing to opposition from local residents. 
 
 It is learnt thatthe airport can handle only seven airlines at a time and this has led to several airlines cancelling operations. Meanwhile, the state government asked the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to rework the alignment of land to be acquired for constructing parking bays at Karipur airport.
 
 Such a change would spare 50 of 172 families whose land is to be acquired for the work. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting convened by chief minister Oommen Chandy in Thiruvananthapuram. Realignment would also minimize the local resistance. 
 
 Minister for airports K Babu said those who give land would be given priority in employment at the airport and the AAI. The fund for acquiring land would be included in the next supplementary demands for grants, he said.