Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Cochin International airport, which had been rendered non-functional for two weeks due to flooding and torrential rains in India’s southern state Kerala reopened on Wednesday. The first flight from the flood-hit Cochin Airport to Kingdom arrived here on Wednesday.

The closure of the airport had affected expatriates from Kerala as it disrupted their travel plans for Eid Al Adha and Onam celebrations besides other personal engagements during holidays.

Many of them faced delays in their return trips. The expatriates from Kerala constitute a large proportion among Indians in Kingdom and other parts of the Gulf region.

The first flight of Saudi Arabian Airlines arrived Jeddah on Wednesday as scheduled and Air India and Jet Airways and flights of other airlines are also expected to arrive in Jeddah and Dammam respectively as per schedule, according to officials.

Saudi Arabian Airlines flies daily twice from Jeddah and Air India operates weekly four flights. Jet Airways also operates a busy schedule to the Cochin from Dammam. The airlines had rescheduled their flights to nearby Thiruvananthapuram airport.

However, from Wednesday all airlines had restored normal schedule, according to official sources.

The airport, the seventh busiest in the country, receives bulk of its international passengers from the Kingdom and other Gulf countries.

The massive flooding inside the airport that damaged almost all the solar panels and other vital infrastructure. The Kochi airport has the distinction of being the world's first airport to be run on solar power.