Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL) has extended the suspension of operations till August 29. The decision was announced after a meeting to review the damage control activities after the heavy rains and flooding ravaged the airport and forced it to shutdown temporarily. CIAL, in a press note, announced that the airport will resume operations by 2pm on August 29.
The stakeholders including airlines and ground handling agencies expressed their concerns over moblising man power since nearly 90 per cent of the CIAL staffers got affected with the flood that caused havoc in the southern state.
Central Kerala is yet to recover from the post-flood trauma and it appears to be a daunting task for the CIAL authorities to arrange local commutation, logistics of catering items which will have a cascading effect on the passengers.
It was earlier announced that the international airport will remain closed for operation till August 26 morning. Flights of foreign airlines Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, Fly Dubai, Jazeera, Oman Air, Qatar, Saudia Airlines and Srilankan have been rescheduled for Thiruvananthapuram airport. Other foreign airlines like Air Asia Berhad, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airlines, Malindo, Scoot, Silk Air and Thai Air Asia have suspended their flights to/from Kochi.
Meanwhile, domestic airline operators like Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, and Indigo had resumed flight services to Kochi from the Naval Base at Willingdon Island.