Kochi airport to remain shut till 29 August

Alappuzha Cochin International Airport Ltd CIAL said on Wednesday it will resume operations only on 29 August instead of 26 August it had announced earlier as mobilising manpower has become difficult.

The airport has been shut since 15 August due to the worst floods to hit Kerala in nearly a century. CIAL said in a statement that extending the date of resuming operations became necessary after stakeholders, including airlines and ground-handling agencies, said most of their staff are affected by the floods and are out of station.

The floods have caused hundreds of deaths and displaced over 1.2 million people. “As central Kerala is yet to recover from the post-floods trauma, it is a daunting task to arrange local commuting and logistics of catering items, which will cause a cascading effect on passengers,” said the company statement. It added that it will resume operations at 2 pm on 29 August.

In the meantime, many train and bus services resumed as water receded in less affected places. Certain parts of Alappuzha and Kottayam districts are still submerged.