Kochi: Flight operations from the Cochin International Airport, shut due to floods, are likely to resume on August 29.

The decision to extend the date was taken at a meeting at Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) here, where most stakeholders, including airlines and ground handling agencies, expressed concern over mobilising manpower by that date, a spokesperson said.

The meeting, held to review damage control activities,was informed that 90 per cent of staff have been affected by the floods and are out of station. Nearby hotels, restaurants and eateries still remain closed.

"As central Kerala was yet to recover from post-flood trauma, it is a daunting task to arrange local commutation, logistics of catering items, which will cause a cascading effect on passengers.

"In view of these apprehensions, the CIAL decided to extend the date of resuming operations for three more days. We will be starting all operations at 2 pm on August 29," the spokesperson said in a release here.

The CIAL, among the busiest in the country, suffered an estimated loss of Rs 220 crore due to the floods and was rendered non-functional since August 14. The CIAL management has launched rebuilding of the damaged infrastructure, including the 2.6-km airport walls that collapsed after Periyar River overflowed.

Airport officials had said the runway, taxi bay, duty-free shops and other areas of international and domestic terminals were submerged, causing damage to electrical equipment, including runway lights.

The solar power system of the world's first solar-powered airport has also suffered damage.

Meanwhile, the Naval Air Station, INS Garuda, commenced civil aircraft operations from Monday.

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The airport was first closed on August 9, for a few hours, and then on August 14.

The devastating deluge in Kerala claimed hundreds of lives over the past 15 days and displaced over 14 lakh people.

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