Around 40 flights were cancelled as operations at the international airport at Kochi, Kerala, in south India, were suspended till this evening after water entered the parking bay and taxi way due to torrential rains, Indian wire agencies have reported.
The Cochin International Airport Limited director A C K Nair said this is the first time this has happened since the airport opened in 1999. “Water entered the parking bays and taxiway and hence we had to suspend all operations from 10.30am on Monday. We are scheduled to commence operations from 3.20pm on Tuesday,” he said. It has been raining heavily in the state for the past two days in Kerala and Idukki and Ernakulam districts have been the worst-affected. Flights heading to Kochi are being diverted to Thiruvananthapuram, the state’s capital city. Doha-Kochi is a busy sector as large numbers of people from that area are based in Qatar. There are a number of flights to Kochi from Doha every day operated by several airlines.
Source: Agencies
