Flooded Kochi International airport (pic: @ShivAroor/Twitter)
UPDATE: Kerala flood toll jumps to 106, nearly 150,000 homeless
Doha: According to a statement by Cochin International Airport Limited operations at Kochi Airport in Kerala, India have been suspended till 2pm of August 26.
“Kochi Airport operation is temporarily suspended up to 2pm on 26-08-2018 due to very high flood situation and key essential facilities like runway, taxiway, apron are under submerged confition,” a statement posted by the airport authority on their facebook page said.
Kochi-Doha-Kochi flights operated by various airlines will be affected due to the flooding of the runway at the airport. Currently four airlines – Qatar Airways, Jet Airways, Air India Express and Indigo – operates flights to Kochi daily from Doha. A few like Oman Airlines offer indirect flights to Kochi.
Most of the airlines flying from Doha to Kochi either cancelled or rerouted the flights to nearby airports.
Airlines are waiving off cancellation and rescheduling charges to passengers who have booked to Kochi on these days.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways in a statement said they have cancelled flights to Kochi till August 26 and is trying to assist passengers with alternative options.
“We kindly advise passengers that airport operations at Cochin Airport have been suspended until 26 August due to extreme flooding in the area. As a result, Qatar Airways has suspended all flights to Cochin Airport until 18 August 2018.
“We would like to assure all customers that every effort is being made to assist affected passengers with alternative arrangements, and we would like to thank them for their patience and understanding.
“Passengers are advised to call Qatar Airways’ 24-hour call centre on +974 4023 0000 or +91 79 3061 6000 for further assistance,” Qatar Airways said in statement.
They have also waived off charges for cancellation till August 18.
“To assist passengers, Qatar Airways is waiving the cancellation charge and allowing free rebooking/rerouting within 21 days of original ticketed travel date for all impacted customers whose tickets are issued on or before 15th Aug 2018 for travel up to 18th Aug 2018,” Qatar Airways said in a statement.
Air India Express
Air India Express also said that there will not be any penalties on cancellation till August 26.
"Flts Ops at Kochi Airport suspended till 1400 hrs of 26thAug. No penalties levied on re-issuance date change no-show canellation & refund charges from/to Kochi on Domestic and Intl flts, on tickets issued on or before 14thAug for travel from 15thAug to 26thAug,” Air India Express tweeted.
Air India Express has rerouted all their Doha-Kochi-Doha flights to Thiruvanathapuram.
“Due to closure of Cochin airport, IX 475/476 COK/DOH/COK of 15/16/17th August will be operating as TRV/DOH/TRV on same schedule timing,” an airline official had said.
Indigo
Indigo airlines has also waived cancellation and rescheduling fees.
"Due to the flood situation in Cochin, cancellation/rescheduling waiver will be given to all passengers scheduled to travel between Aug 16-26, 2018. To cancel/reschedule at no extra cost, contact us on Twitter/Facebook or call us at 01246173838,” the airline said on twitter.
Indigo also cancelled their flights to Cochin till August 18 as per their website.
Jet
Even Jet Airways has announced a similar measure to the passengers booked on their flight.
“As per Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), the airport operations have been temporarily suspended upto 26th Aug 14:00. We've extended the waiver on penalties for date/flight change, refund, no-show & fare difference if any, on all confirmed tickets to & from #Kochi till 26th Aug. Kindly note, we are assisting with date changes up to 10 days from the original travel date at Nil charges,” Jet has posted on their social media.
Jet airways official had said yesterday that they are trying to accommodate passengers in other flights to nearby destinations. Passengers who have booked on Jet Airways to Kochi can call 44072222 for further details.
Extra troops
Hundreds of extra troops were deployed in the southern state, a major tourist hotspot, as the government issued a "red alert" over the region's worst floods in decades.
State authorities said the confirmed death toll was 72 but officials and media reports said up to 30 more people were feared dead Thursday in landslides and as rivers burst their banks, flooding scores of villages.
"At least 6,500 people are stranded in different parts of Kerala and the situation in three districts is particularly grim," a Kerala state disaster management official told AFP.
North and central Kerala has been worst hit by the floods but all 14 of the state's districts have been put on alert as heavy rain is predicted for several days.
All public transport has been stopped with many buses left abandoned in the road.