New Delhi: Commercial flight operations to flood-affected Kochi resumed on Monday. An Air India flight from Bengaluru landed at the naval airport in the city. Domestic air operations have resumed here after 18 years as the Kochi International Airport remained submerged. Air India has waived cargo charges for transportation of medicine and other materials to Kerala.
Congratulations to team @airindiain. 1st scheduled flight lands at Cochin INS Garuda (the alternate site for Cochin Airport) from Bangalore with 70+ passengers. pic.twitter.com/QlhYPc2i2Z
— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) August 20, 2018
As part of the relief efforts, Jet Airways is operating special flights between Bengaluru and the Kochi navy airfield. These flights will operate from 21 August.
Jet Airways has also deployed additional flights to and from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Dubai and Dammam to Thiruvananthapuram.
#9Wupdate: We are committed in our support to the people impacted due to #KeralaFloods and sincerely hope the situation stabilises soon.
— Jet Airways (@jetairways) August 20, 2018
Pls RT to those who need to travel there asap. pic.twitter.com/QcrFt5r1kc
Another airline, GoAir is operating special flights from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram from today. Customers booked to/from Kochi will be accommodated on these flights.
#GoAlert
— GoAir (@goairlinesindia) August 18, 2018
Due to closure of Kochi Airport, GoAir will operate special flights on Mumbai-Trivandrum sector w.e.f 20th Aug, 2018. Customers booked to/from Kochi will be accommodated on these flights. For more information, contact us on 18602100999 or visit https://t.co/It6A1Kdfe4
IndiGo, too, is operating additional flights to help stranded passengers in Kerala.
#6ETravelAdvisory: Due to the flood situation in #Kerala, cancellation fee waiver will be offered on the bookings made before Aug 20, 2018 for travel scheduled on/before Aug 31, 2018. For any assistance, write to us on Facebook/Twitter.
— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) August 19, 2018
The Centre on Sunday said air fares for domestic flights to and from Kerala ranged between Rs 3,395 and Rs 6,999 on shorter routes and Rs 6,017 and Rs 10,000 on longer ones, amidst allegations that passengers were being charged exorbitant rates.
The Kochi International Airport, the seventh busiest in the country, has been shut till 26 August following floods that have claimed close to 400 lives in Kerala in the last 11 days.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is in contact with three private helicopter operators to carry out relief operations after a request was received from the Kerala government.