Kochi airport to resume ops today after remaining shut for 2 days

Flight operations from the Kochi international airport will resume at noon on Sunday, two days after it was shut as water entered the runway area due to heavy rains and floods, an official said here on Saturday.

"Airport is ready. Flight operations will resume at noon tomorrow. That is ahead of deadline. Airlines are instructed to facilitate services accordingly," the Cochin International Airport Limited spokesperson told reporters.

He said check-in will start at 9 a.m on Sunday in both domestic and international terminals.

Earlier, the official said water level in apron areas of the airport was receding and cleaning operations had begun.

 

"Ferry operation was successfully carried out. Six out of eight stranded aircraft departed, while the remaining two will fly to their destinations tomorrow as scheduled services," he said.

The Kochi International airport had on Friday suspended all operations till 3 p.m on Sunday as the runway area in the airport was waterlogged due to floods.

The operations were suspended as there was a rise in water level in Periyar river and a canal adjacent to the airport due to heavy rains.

The spokesperson said the decision to resume services from the airport was taken at a review meeting.

All the 24 airlines were briefed and were instructed to facilitate services accordingly, the spokesperson said.

He said CIAL decided to resume operation ahead of schedule as the recovery works were found effective.

"Runway is intact in flood this time. No tears/marks/slush traits reported on runway. This really helped," he said.

According to him, T3 apron was the most affected area.

Parts of taxiway, three taxiway links were also inundated. T1 apron was partially affected and 100 metre portion of southern perimeter security wall collapsed in the floods, he said.

Heavy rains have been battering Kerala for the past few days and claimed 42 lives, bringing back memories of the worst floods in August last year.

The airport was rendered non-functional for a fortnight in August 2018 due to inundation.

It had suffered damage to infrastructure, including a 2.6 km long wall that collapsed after the Periyar river overflowed.

The estimated loss was then put between Rs 220-250 crore.