Airport a beehive of activity

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 18/08/2018:: An Indian Air Force helicopter returning to the the Technical area of the Thiruvananthapuram airport after air dropping of food packets at flood-affected areas of Chengannur. The new team of the National Disaster Response Force which landed here on Saturday can also be seen in the backgrounnd...........Photo:S_Gopakumar.

The Thiruvananthapuram international airport has become a beehive of activity during last few days following the closure of Cochin international airport.

Besides movement of Indian Air Force VVIP aircraft carrying Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Thiruvananthapuram international airport handled 42 rescheduled flights, 38 rescue flights of the IAF in addition to flights of domestic carriers. On August 17, there were 34 aircraft movements of rescheduled flights, eight movements of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) troops and three Haj flights to Saudi Arabia. On August 16, there were 48 flight movements from the airport in addition to 20 flights of the NDRF and one Haj flight.

Vistara, Air Asia and Go Air also commenced flight operations from the international airport to Chennai, Delhi, Bengalaru and Mumbai respectively to cater to the needs of flyers who had booked tickets from Cochin.

Oman Air has announced that it will operate its Kochi-bound flights from Thiruvananthapuram international airport till the Cochin airport becomes functional.

Jet Airways will be operating additional domestic flights to Thiruvananthapuram from Mumbai, Bangalore, Dubai and Dammam from Sunday in view of the closure of the Cochin airport.