Monday, August 05, 2013

Kochi runway flooding: flights diverted to Kozhikode

Thiruvananthapuram: The decision of the Air India Express to station aircraft in the Middle East, designating Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram as the “alternative airports” and a host of swift decisions helped to lessen the hardship of the flyers on account of the closure of the runway of Cochin International Airport since 11 a.m. on Monday due to flooding.
Besides, the coordinated effort of the CIAL, Airports Authority of India and operating airlines, timely issual of NoTAM (Notice to Airmen) to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards and deploying of large aircraft by foreign airlines from the Middle East has helped to avoid hardship to NRKs who had booked in advance to reach home for the forthcoming Ramzan.
Although it is off-season for the airlines operating to the Middle East from the State, the airline managers swung into action and decided to operate the flights as per schedule either to Thriuvananthapuram or Kozhikode to avoid backlog of passengers in Kochi and in the Middle East.
Sources in the national carrier said the passengers from the Middle East and those who had booked return ticket were given the option of flying down or boarding from the other two airports or to cancel the tickets and opt for rebooking at a later date.
06/08/13 The Hindu
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