Wednesday, August 07, 2013

After 30 hours of shutdown, airport back in take-off mode

Kochi: Thirty hours after it was forced to shut down its runway and suspend operations due to flooding caused by the Periyar in spate, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) at Nedumbassery sprang back to life on Tuesday afternoon.
A visibly relieved V.J. Kurian, managing director of CIAL, declared at a press meet that the first flight — an Air India Express flight bound for Doha after the airport was closed at 10.30 a.m. on Monday — had landed at the airport at 3.20 p.m., even as he was addressing mediapersons.
The runway was declared fit by an airport safety team following a procedure laid down by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The Instrument Landing System was also unaffected.
Mr. Kurian said arrangements had been made to ensure that the backlog of passengers was cleared by midnight. “We have asked all airlines to deploy wide-bodied aircraft to facilitate smooth clearance of backlog passengers,” he said.
07/08/13 The Hindu
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