# The Seaport–Airport Road: Three Decades of a Kalamassery Bypass > The Seaport–Airport Road was meant to link Cochin port with the airport at Nedumbassery without touching the crowded NH 544. Its first phase reached HMT in Kalamassery in 2003. For more than two decades after that, the road stopped there, held up by land owned by HMT and the Naval Armament Depot. As of October 2026 the short HMT–NAD link had been tendered and work was expected to be under way, but the road did not yet reach the airport. - URL: https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/seaport-airport-road-history/ - Publisher: Ashraf Gents Hostel, Ashraf house, NAD Rd, signal, Kalamassery, Aluva, Kerala 683563, India (+91 90746 23855) - Published: 2026-10-08 · Updated: 2026-10-08 - Topic: History & archive - Cite as: Ashraf Gents Hostel. “The Seaport–Airport Road: Three Decades of a Kalamassery Bypass.” Published 8 October 2026. https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/seaport-airport-road-history/ ## Key facts - Phase I of the Seaport–Airport Road, from Karingachira near Thrippunithura to HMT in Kalamassery, was inaugurated in May 2003, according to Wikipedia. - Sources give Phase I as about 11.3 km (NBM&CW) or about 13 km (Wikipedia), and the whole road as about 25.7 km (Irumpanam–Nedumbassery) or about 30 km. - An October 2025 report said 1.6352 hectares of HMT land at Kalamassery were being handed to the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala after a Supreme Court interim order. - In January 2026 a tender was invited for the 2.7 km HMT–NAD link at about ₹17.22 crore, with a 12-month completion period, Onmanorama reported. - Wikipedia notes that the road was surfaced with natural-rubber-modified bitumen. ## The idea: a road around the city By the 1990s Kochi had two growing gateways — the port at Willingdon Island and, from 1999, the new [Cochin International Airport](https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/kochi-airport-history-cial/) at Nedumbassery — and one main road between them, the national highway through Edappally, Kalamassery and Aluva. The Seaport–Airport Road was planned as an alternative: a four-lane road east of the city from the Irumpanam side through Kakkanad to Kalamassery and then north to the airport. Wikipedia says it was meant to serve industrial units such as HMT, FACT and Kochi Refineries along the way. We could not confirm the year the road was first proposed, so we have not given one. The title’s ‘three decades’ is an approximation: the first phase was finished in 2003, and the final links were still being built in 2026. ## Timeline | Date | What happened | Source | |---|---|---| | May 2003 | Phase I inaugurated: Karingachira/Irumpanam to HMT, Kalamassery, with rail overbridges at Irumpanam yard and CRL Junction | Wikipedia; NBM&CW | | 2003 onwards | The HMT–NAD stretch stalls over land owned by HMT and the defence-owned Naval Armament Depot | NBM&CW; Onmanorama | | About 2020 | Phase II estimated at ₹662 crore for about 17 km from HMT to the airport and Kariyad | Wikipedia (citing The Hindu) | | 2021 | A 1.9 km section in HMT Colony, Kalamassery, completed after land acquisition | Earlier reporting summarised in our road guide | | 21 October 2025 | 1.6352 ha of HMT land reported as being handed to RBDCK after a Supreme Court interim order | NBM&CW | | 22 January 2026 | Tender invited for the 2.7 km HMT–NAD link, about ₹17.22 crore, 12 months | Onmanorama | | Around March 2026 | Tender process expected to finish and work to begin | February 2026 report cited in our NAD-signal review | Two numbers differ between sources. NBM&CW (October 2025) says the state had earlier allotted ₹32.26 crore for 2.4967 ha of NAD land, while Onmanorama (January 2026) reported ₹23.11 crore paid for NAD land and ₹37.90 crore for HMT land. NBM&CW also describes the HMT–NAD stretch as 2 km, against Onmanorama’s 2.7 km. The figures may describe different stages or boundaries; we give both. ## Why the road stopped at HMT for so long North of HMT Junction the planned alignment ran across two difficult pieces of land. One was HMT’s own holding, itself tied up in litigation over the Kerala Land Reforms Act that reached the Supreme Court; the other belonged to the [Naval Armament Depot](https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/naval-armament-depot-aluva-history/), where any transfer needed the Ministry of Defence. Onmanorama noted in November 2025, when reporting on the [Judicial City](https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/judicial-city-proposal-history/) land, that the Supreme Court had earlier allowed the state to take HMT land for this road on deposit of compensation — the same mechanism the state then sought for the court complex. Engineering added time. Reports summarised in our [Seaport–Airport Road guide](https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/seaport-airport-road-guide/) say the NAD end needs sand piles because the soil is very soft, with embankments of 4.5–7.5 metres. NBM&CW described the HMT–NAD section as including a 600-metre stretch 45 metres wide. ## Phase II: what is planned beyond NAD According to NBM&CW, the second phase is divided into three parts: HMT Road–NAD Junction to Mahilalayam Junction, Mahilalayam Junction to Chowara, and Chowara to the airport road. Wikipedia describes Phase II as about 17 km from HMT to the airport and on to Kariyad near Angamaly on NH 544. As of October 2026 we found no report that the stretches beyond NAD had been tendered. - Phase I, Irumpanam–HMT: open since 2003. - HMT–NAD link: tendered January 2026; completion targeted roughly a year after work began. - NAD–Mahilalayam–Chowara–airport: planned; no confirmed construction dates. > Until the whole of Phase II opens, the road does not take you to the airport. Use NH 544 for that; see our [NH 544 widening history](https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/nh-544-widening-kalamassery-history/). ## Why this history matters at the NAD signal Few places will feel the HMT–NAD link more than the NAD Road signal itself. A road that ended at HMT for twenty years is now being pushed towards NAD, which will change traffic on lanes that have been quiet. For men living at Ashraf Gents Hostel on NAD Road, whose public profile lists the Seaport–Airport Road within about 3 km, that could mean a more direct route to Kakkanad today and to the airport later. More of the local background is on the [archive hub](https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/kalamassery-history-archive/) and the [Adani land history](https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/adani-logistics-park-land-history/). ## Frequently asked questions **When was the Seaport–Airport Road opened?** Its first phase, from the Irumpanam/Karingachira side to HMT in Kalamassery, was inaugurated in May 2003, according to Wikipedia. **Why did the road stop at HMT?** The next stretch needed land from HMT, which was under litigation, and from the Naval Armament Depot, which belongs to the defence ministry. **Has the HMT–NAD link been built?** A tender was invited in January 2026 for about ₹17.22 crore with a 12-month completion period. As of October 2026 we found no report that the link had opened. **Does the Seaport–Airport Road reach the airport?** Not yet. The sections beyond NAD towards the airport were still in planning in the reports we found. **How long is the road?** Sources differ: about 25.7 km from Irumpanam to Nedumbassery in one report, about 30 km in Wikipedia. ## Sources - [Wikipedia: Seaport–Airport Road](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaport-Airport_Road) - [NBM&CW: Seaport–Airport Road phase 2 set to resume as HMT land handed over to RBDCK (October 2025)](https://www.nbmcw.com/news/keralas-seaport-airport-road-phase-2-set-to-resume-as-hmt-land-handed-over-to-rbdck.html) - [Onmanorama: Seaport–Airport Road phase 2 tender (January 2026)](https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2026/01/22/seaport-airport-road-phase-2-tender-kochi.html) - [NBM&CW: Seaport–Airport Road project revives as HMT–NAD section work begins](https://www.nbmcw.com/news/kochis-seaport-airport-road-project-revives-as-hmt-nad-section-work-begins.html) - [Onmanorama: Kerala approaches Supreme Court for HMT land (November 2025)](https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2025/11/26/kerala-approaches-supreme-court-permission-hmt-land-judicial-city-kochi.html) --- Facts about Ashraf Gents Hostel come from the hostel’s own profile, photos and Google Site; rates are indicative and confirmed on the call. 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