The agitated villagers under the aegis of the People’s Action Council, alleged that the international airport project itself was part of a big land scam and fraud. Mr Varghese alleged that the KGS Group was a Chennai-based real estate company and they are planning to set up the proposed airport converting the bio-diversity-rich Aranmula wetlands which was a sprawling paddy field two decades ago. As many as 150 acres of the Aranmula paddy fields have already been illegally converted in the name of the airport project and there was no question of permitting any more conversion in the area [4]. The proposed airport will wipe out the wetlands and disturb the ecological balance in the region. On 2 April, 2013 the Chennai Bench of the National Green Tribunal issued an order staying the construction of the airport. However, on 30 April, the bench reversed its earlier decision and allowed the stay to be lifted [1].

Kerala Chief Minister stressed that Kerala government would go ahead with the proposed KGS Aranmula International Airport despite opposition from the Communist Party of India (Marxists) in the Kerala Legislative Assembly [2, 3] in 2013.

In 2014, there were mounting protests against this project. Not only did the judgement of  the National Green Tribunal, dated May 28, 2014, cancel the environmental clearance on procedural grounds, but there were also popular protests and strikes against it. The NGT declared that  Enviorocare, the agency that had carried out the environmental impact study of the airport project was not adequately qualified for the job and that the public hearing on the project had not been carried out in accordance with theset norms.[5]

 In May 2015, India's Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said the Aranmula International Airport had not been granted environmental approval. Mr Javadekar confirmed the cancellation of approval granted following an environmental impact assessment under the previous government. Mr Javadekar said, "There are three steps for availing environmental clearance, and the airport project has not cleared even the first step." India's Ministry of Defence also reportedly withdrew its clearance for the project, and the CAA, as aresult of the Environmental Minister's decision [1].

In November 2016, the Kerala government cancelled all orders related to the proposed Aranmula airport project, including the grant of in-principle sanction.The project had run into trouble after it was mooted nearly seven years ago with environment groups and people in the area holding that it would cause environmental hazards.

This was done after the India's Ministry of Civil Aviation withdrew in principal approval for the proposed Aranmula International Airport project, after National Green Tribunal reportedly did not provide environmental clearance and Ministry of Defence withdrew No Object Certificate in September 2016.

The CPI(M)—led LDF government in an affidavit filed in the Kerala High Court in a connected case in August 2016 had said that it had decided to take immediate steps to cancel its decision to notify approximately 500 acres of land in Aranmula as an industrial area.The government had also stated that it was found that the proposed project area constitutes large extent of paddy and wetland which cannot be legally converted for the purpose of a private company in view of existing legal provisions. The project also faced stiff resistance from devotees of Sri Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple, who said that the airport would cause structural damage to the temple. [6]

However, in June 2018, the chief minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan said feasibility study is under way for setting up an airport at in the same region again. [7] The proposed Sabarimala greenfield international airport in Central Travancore is to come up on the Cheruvally estate, 2.5 km from the Theni-Kottarakara National Highway and close to Erumeli town in Kottayam district, as a replacement of Aranmula.[8] [9]

The state government has been given a 10 percent equity stake in the airport.

The runway length of the proposed airport would be 3100 X 45 metres and the terminal building would be designed to handle 1,000 passengers at a time.