Cochin airport to open on August 26

Kochi, Aug 21 (IANS) With the flood waters receding rapidly, the Cochin International Airport, one of the three in Kerala and the busiest, will open on August 26 – after 12 days of closure.

Airport authorities have been engaged in a massive cleaning operation of the operational area that was submerged by flood waters.

One side the compound wall of the airport came down after water from the swollen Periyar river and its tributaries, which received an unprecedented amount of water released by major dams, entered the complex, turning it into a virtual sea.

The airport was first closed on August 9, for a few hours, and then on August 15.

Consequent to the flooding, a Rs 60 crore solar power plant, billed as one of the biggest in an airport, was submerged.

The Cochin airport handled 10 million passengers in fiscal 2017-18.