Nedumbassery: The Cochin International Airport would suspend daytime operations from November 2019 to March 2020 due to the carpeting of the runway.
The runway would be shut from November 6, 2019 to March 28, 2020 during the day hours.
There would not be any flight services from 10 am till 6 pm during the five-month period.
Currently, 31 domestic services and seven international flights start journey from Kochi during this time. These many flights also land in Kochi during the daytime. However, the runway would function as usual from 6pm till the next day morning. The airline companies have been asked to change the flight timings accordingly.
Maintenance works and recarpeting would be held in the day hours and by evening the runway would be made available again. The carpeting work involves re-surfacing and strengthening of the runway.
As per the civil aviation director general's instructions, runway carpeting has to be carried out every 10 years. The first runway carpeting of the airport that started functioning in 1999 was held in 2009. For the second time around, more advanced works would be carried out.
