Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) handled a total of 1,050 passengers on Monday as domestic air services resumed following relaxation of Covid lockdown regulations.
The first flight, an Air Asia flight from Bengaluru, landed at 7.10 a.m. and departed at 7.56 a.m.
CIAL authorities confirmed eight arrivals and nine departure services. Three departures and four arrivals were cancelled. Flight operations linked Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.
Airport officials claimed that the contactless systems installed to observe COVID-19 protocol were successful on the first day. The airport had also introduced baggage disinfectant mechanism and specially-designed doormats to disinfect footwears.
Monday marked the 21st anniversary of the airport, which was inaugurated by former President of India K.R. Narayanan.
Flight from U.S.
Meanwhile, a special Air India flight landed at the Kochi airport around 8.30 a.m. from San Francisco via Delhi as as part of Vande Bharath mission. The flight AI IX 174 brought 103 passengers to Kochi from different parts of the USA. They comprised 61 men and 42 women. There were four children below the age of 10 in the group as well as four pregnant women and three senior citizens.
Eighty of the passengers were shifted to Covid observation centres in different districts and 23 were sent to their homes but will be under observation.
Those who arrived included seven from Alappuzha, 27 from Ernakulam, one each from Kasaragod, Idukki, Palakkad and Pathanamthitta, six from Kollam, five from Kottayam, three from Malappuram, 17 from Thiruvananthapuram, and 11 from Thrissur. There were also five persons from other States.
An evacuation flight from Melbourne via Delhi with 270 passengers on board was slated to land around 10 p.m.
