The first flight to Kochi landed at the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) on Wednesday, 15 days after the airport was turned into a sea by the floods that ravaged Kerala.
An IndiGo flight from Ahmedabad to Kochi was the first to land at the airport – the busiest and largest in the state of Kerala – at 2 pm, marking the opening of the airport.
According to reports, a total of around 60 flights, including domestic and international, are scheduled to land or takeoff from the airport.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to Twitter to announce the opening of the airport.
“Cochin International Airport in Kochi (COK), which was closed due to the floods, has commenced its operations. CM Pinarayi Vijayan congratulated the officials and employees of CIAL on making the airport functional in a short time. #KeralaFloods,” he wrote.
Cochin International Airport in Kochi (COK), which was closed due to the floods, has commenced its operations. CM Pinarayi Vijayan congratulated the officials and employees of CIAL on making the airport functional in a short time. #KeralaFloods
— CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 29, 2018
Union Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu, too, had announced his happiness about the reopening of the airport.
“Happy to announce that Kochi airport will reopen from today after 15-day shutdown due to unprecedented floods hindering operations. The first flight from the airport is scheduled at 2 pm today,” he wrote just before the opening.
Cochin International Airport in Kochi (COK), which was closed due to the floods, has commenced its operations. CM Pinarayi Vijayan congratulated the officials and employees of CIAL on making the airport functional in a short time. #KeralaFloods
— CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 29, 2018
Operations at the airport resumed three days later than the scheduled opening on 26 August.
CIAL had issued a statement saying that the opening of the Kochi airport had to be postponed after a review of the situation.
“A meeting was held at CIAL today to review the damage control activities at Kochi airport, wherein most of the stake-holders including airlines and ground handling agencies expressed their concerns over mobilising manpower,” said the CIAL statement, adding 90 per cent of their staffers got affected with the flood and were out of station.
The airport is located close to the Periyar river, and flood waters from the swelling river had inundated the airport premises forcing it to shut all operations on 15 August. CIAL had first announced that the Kochi airport would remain shut till 18 August but had to defer the date to 26 August due to severe waterlogging.
The airport lost almost 2,600 metres of the perimeter wall due to the flooding. While the water had receded from the runway, taxiway and parking bays, the runway needed two days to complete the milling work it required.
Kochi international airport is the seventh-largest in the country in terms of passenger traffic, with international passengers comprising almost 55 per cent of the traffic.
According to a CARE Ratings report, a passenger traffic of around 3.5-4.5 lakh is expected to be affected over the next fortnight or so, causing a revenue loss of Rs 22-27 crore. “An additional loss of business and revenue for other operations and services at the airport is expected to the extent of Rs 8-12 crore,” said the report.
According to latest official figures, the death toll stands at nearly 370 while over 1 million people have taken shelter in more than 3,000 relief camps.