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After 15 days and Rs 220 crore loss, Kochi airport resumes operations

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Kochi, Aug 29: Kochi airport, which had been rendered non-functional since August 14 due to flooding and torrential rains in Kerala, reopened around 2 pm today. Indigo flight 667 from Ahmadabad to Kochi, was the first flight in two weeks to land at the CIAL.

Representational Image

The airport, the seventh busiest in the country, had been rendered non-functional since August 14 after the deluge that devastated the state between August 8 and 22, forced government to allow commercial flights from the Naval facility in the heart of the city from August 20.

The airport authorities had first announced the shuttering of the facility till August 18, which was then extended to 26 and further to 29 as water levels continued to rise inundating the runway, the terminals as well as the large solar farm surrounding the airport.

This forced the DGCA to ask airlines to divert Kochi bound flights to the other two airports in the state in Thiruvanathapuram or Kozhikode or Coimbatore in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Mangalore in Karnataka.

"Jet Airways will resume its scheduled operations to Cochin International Airport (CIAL) from August 29. The airline's first flight to Kochi (9W 0403 from Mumbai) is scheduled to arrive at 15:50 hrs," Jet Airways said in a statement.

Jet also said it continues relief efforts in support of the flood-affected people in the state, adding the carrier airlifted over 17 tonne of relief material free of cost.

The airline has also extended its waiver for passengers holding confirmed tickets and travelling into and out of the airport till Wednesday and guest can change dates up to September 15 from the original travel date, it added.

Budget carrier Indigo also said it will resume services from 1400 hrs on Wednesday from the Kochi, the airline said in a tweet.

On Tuesday, the CIAL had said "the airport will commence full-scale operations (both international and domestic) at 2 pm on August 29."

It is estimated that the CIAL suffered at least Rs 220 crore losses due to the fortnight-long closure of operations.

PTI

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