UAE flights affected as Kochi airport closes operations till August 11

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UAE flights affected as Kochi airport closes operations till August 11

Abu Dhabi - Major airlines announced that the flights to and from Kochi would be diverted or cancelled.

by

Ashwani Kumar

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Published: Fri 9 Aug 2019, 10:50 PM

The closure of Cochin International Airport till Sunday due to rain has affected expats from the UAE who had booked tickets for the long weekend.
On Thursday night, the airport announced that it will suspend services till midnight and then extended the suspension till Sunday. Many flights from the UAE were affected by the unexpected closure. Major airlines announced that the flights to and from Kochi would be diverted or cancelled.
Incessant rain on Thursday led to temporary shutdown of the airport. The closure, as part of precautionary measure, was first announced till midnight. Later, the airport announced the closure would be extended till Sunday as the apron area was waterlogged.
Emirates flights diverted
Dubai-based carrier Emirates airline experienced difficulties following the torrential downpours, which saw water level rising in Periyar river and a canal near the airport.
A spokesperson for Emirates airline said: "Due to the weather conditions at Cochin Airport all flight operations to and from Kochi (COK) will now operate via Trivandrum International Airport (TRV) on 9 August."
Subsequently, the following flights have been affected:
EK532 will depart DXB at 1100hrs and arrive at TRV at 1630hrs
EK530 will depart DXB at 0845hrs and arrive at TRV at 1415hrs
EK533 will depart TRV at 1750hrs and arrive at DXB at 2010hrs
EK531 will depart TRV at 1515hrs and arrive at DXB at 1740hrs

The airline has advised travellers to check www.emirates.com/flightstatus for the latest flight updates as departure times may change depending on the weather conditions.
The spokesperson also said that affected passengers booked to travel to/from Cochin can opt to change their flights and postpone their departure up to August 15, 2019 and are requested to contact their travel agent or booking offices to make changes to their bookings.

All the flights to airport were either cancelled or diverted from 9pm (IST) onwards. A Dubai-Kochi flight was diverted to Trivandrum International Airport while Kochi-Abu Dhabi flight that was supposed to fly in the morning got cancelled.
"Cochin International Airport has shut operations as water has entered taxiway. A flight from Kochi is yet to arrive here in Abu Dhabi. This will affect the returning flight. Many passengers would have already checked-in at Abu Dhabi International Airport. We are trying our best to manage the situation," an Air India official from Abu Dhabi said.
From Dubai, flydubai (FZ 441), Emirates (EK 532), SpiceJet, Indigo (6E 068) were cancelled while Etihad flight (EY 280) from Abu Dhabi and Air Arabia and Air India (IX 412) flights from Sharjah were cancelled.
 


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