The Cochin International Airport opened on Wednesday afternoon after a closure of 15 days following the flooding of its facilities.
The first to land at the reopened airport was an Indigo flight from Ahmedabad, which landed at 2.06 p.m. The first flight to take off from the airport was an Indigo flight to Bengaluru at 3.25 p.m.
AICC president Rahul Gandhi was a surprise presence in the flight to Bengaluru. Mr. Gandhi was leaving after a two-day visit to the flood-affected areas of Kerala.
The first international service to land at the airport was a Jet Airways flight from Muscat, which landed at 4.30 p.m. There was a schedule of 33 landings and 30 take-offs on the first day of its relaunched operations at CIAL from 2 p.m.
The airport was closed on August 15 following the flooding of its facilities after the water level in the river Periyar reached alarming levels. The cleaning up operations at the airport began on August 20 and the airport was inspected by the Director General of Civil Aviation after the operations were completed. The civilian air services were temporarily shifted to INS Garuda, the naval air station within Kochi city while CIAL was closed.
