Kochi airport closure: Flights between Kerala and UAE disrupted
Cancellations, diversions, delays after Kochi airport closed until Sunday due to floods
Dubai: Flight operations between the UAE airports and Cochin International Airport have been disrupted after the closure of the airport in the South Indian state of Kerala on Thursday night.
There have been flight cancellations, diversions and delays due to the closure, following flooding in the airport premises.
The airport was initially closed at 9pm (India time) until midnight in view of a flood alert. In its latest update, the airport has announced that the operations will remain suspended until 3pm on Sunday, August 11.
Air India Express (AIE) and Etihad flights from Kochi to Abu Dhabi were among the flights cancelled, according to the flight schedule posted on the website of the Cochin International Airport Limited.
An official confirmed to Gulf News that an AIE flight to Sharjah has been delayed causing an inordinate delay to the return flight from Sharjah to Kochi.
Meanwhile, another AIE flight from Dubai to Kochi was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram, the official confirmed.
Airline officials are expecting further delays due to a backlog of arrivals and departures once the airport resumes operations.
Passengers of a Fly Dubai flight to Kochi were waiting for more information from Kochi at Dubai International Airport late on Thursday.
S. Thomas, one of the passengers, told Gulf News that all passengers had earlier boarded the flight, which was scheduled to depart at 8pm.
“But it was only after that the information about the airport closure in Kochi was received. So all of us were asked to disembark and taken back to Terminal 2.”
Around 10:30pm, he said the passengers were still awaiting updates on their travel.
“We don’t know if the flight will be cancelled or diverted to some other airport. Anyway it seems there will be further delays. We are all waiting here.”