BENGALURU: In a move that will bring relief to thousands of people stranded in Kochi with no means of flying out of the city, the Union government on Saturday announced that flights between Kochi and Bengaluru will be operated from Monday from the Cochin Naval Air Base from August 20.
The unprecedented closing of Kochi airport, which is shut for operations till August 26, has forced several operators to cancel their flights to the flood-affected state. On Friday, Jet Airways, Air India and Air India Express announced that they would operate additional flights to Thiruvananthapuram in order to make up for the closure of Kochi Airport. While talks were on to use the Naval Air Base as an alternative, it was confirmed only on Saturday.
In a series of tweets, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu on Saturday said the alternative flights would be operated between Bengaluru and Cochin Naval Air Base. These flights, operated by Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, will be able to ferry 70 passengers on each trip.
The flights will be operated in an ATR 72-600 twin-engine turboprop aircraft owned by Alliance Air. After the initial flights between Bengaluru and Kochi, additional flights, routed via Coimbatore will also be operated. “More destinations like Madurai are also in the pipeline. Other airlines are likely to join this effort too,” Prabhu tweeted.
