Operations at Kochi airport face severe disruption from November
22 Jan 2008
New Delhi: Flights at Kochi airport are set for severe disruptions later on in the year with authorities deciding to close the runway from 10 am to 8 pm every day for seven months, starting November this year. The re-carpeting of the Kochi runway will affect almost 200 out of 400 weekly domestic and international flights that operate from Kochi.
The airport's entire 3,400-metre runway, according to the airport's private developer, Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), needs to be re-carpeted. This will be done in small blocks so that aircraft can take off and land outside the no-fly period.
Officials of CIAL have already informed over 14 carriers that operate from the airport about the impending closure. Kochi is a key centre for migrant workers travelling to West Asia, and accounts for nearly half the total aircraft movement in and out of Kerala.
The State's other airports include Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode (Calicut).
Carriers are facing a similar situation at Calicut, where the runway remains closed from 10 am-7 pm for almost a year now.
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