The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) resumed its operations, both international and domestic, on August 29, after being shut for 15 days due to the floods in Kerala. An update on the CIAL official website stated that “Kochi airport resumed full-scale operations at 2 pm on 29/08/2018.”
Following the flooding of the Chengalthodu canal near the airport, the CIAL decided to stop all flight services due to waterlogging.
While all flight services resumed on August 29, Air India airlines had announced that it will start its services on August 30.
#FlyAI: #Update: Air India will resume flight operations as per normal schedule to and from Kochi from August 30, 2018.
— Air India (@airindiain) August 29, 2018
In an earlier statement, CIAL had informed that the airlines will follow the current schedule for operations and that all the services from the Kochi Naval base will be cancelled from Wednesday noon onwards.
CIAL had also said that 90% of staffers were affected due to the flood, and logistics would be difficult. "A meeting was held at CIAL today to review the damage control activities at Kochi airport, wherein most of the stakeholders including airlines and ground handling agencies expressed their concerns over mobilising manpower. It was informed that 90% of their staffers got affected with the flood and are out of station. Nearby hotels, restaurants and eateries still remain close,” read the statement.
The CIAL had first announced that it would open on August 18. Due to the severity of the floods, the opening date was further deferred to August 26. It was again postponed for a third time by three days to August 29.
While the Cochin Airport was shut, the Kochi Naval base was used to carry out rescue operations.
Kerala witnessed the worst floods in over a century earlier this month. Over 322 deaths were recorded and lakhs of people were displaced due to the rainfall and opening of dams, which resulted in flooding. The material losses due to the floods are to the tune of Rs 19,000 crores.