Tag: Kerala floods

Kochi airport to resume operations from 29th August 2018

Operations of the Kochi International Airport will resume on 29th August 2018 at 2:00 PM. It was decided by the authorities after a review meeting held yesterday.  The circular issued by CIAL on 22nd August states that three more days will be required to make the airport fully functional. Earlier it was declared to resume operations from 26th August. As per the circular, the date was extended as most of their staff got affected with the floods and they are out of station. Furthermore, hotels, restaurants and eateries around the airport are still closed. Communication, logistics facilities etc. are yet ... Read more

Kerala tourism industry forms Task Force to support flood affected state

The floods in Kerala has devastated many lives, taken their shelters away and damaged many properties. Tourism and hospitality industry is one of the worst hit businesses in the state with Idukki and Munnar being marooned and devastated and roads, rail and airways become nonfunctional. Kerala’s tourism industry stakeholders have formed an independent task force to support the relief and rehabilitation work that is underway in the State. Around 28 travel, tourism and hospitality industry associations met in Kochi to form Kerala Tourism Task Force, an independent voluntary body, to support the government and the administration in different districts of ... Read more

Meet the diver who saved many lives in the Kerala floods

When Kerala was badly affected by rain and flood that the state has never experienced in history, we have seen lots of heroes arisen from nowhere to help the flood ridden people. Mesh Manoharan, from Chendamangalam near Kodungallur, which was one of the most affected places, was just one among the many victims of the flood. But, the trained scuba diver he is, Mesh gave it a thought to check on the water level and the situation around, took his kayak out in the river flowing behind his home and rescued 70 people from the flood affected area. Mesh is ... Read more

Additional flights to operate from Thiruvananthapuram

Since Kerala’s busiest airport, the Kochi International Airport, remain closed due to the floods, additional services will be operated from Thiruvananthapuram Airport. As per the authorities, 36 international and 12 domestic services will be operated today. Additional flights are mostly to the Middle East region. Meanwhile, 70 seater small aircrafts have started operating from Kochi naval base since yesterday. Currently, AllianceAir is flying to Bengaluru and Coimbatore from Kochi. Indigo is also planning to begin operations from Kochi soon. Resuming of services from the Kochi International Airport is still uncertain. As per the previous circular, it will remain closed until ... Read more

DGCA asks airlines to operate more flights to Kerala, cap fares

Aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked domestic airlines to operate additional flights to Kerala and cap fares as the state is affected by one of the worst floods in the history of the state. The flood situation has forced its busiest airport in Kochi to shut operations till August 26. The DGCA after holding talks with the carriers, said it is constantly monitoring airfares on 32 direct routes operating to/from Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Coimbatore and Mangalore. “Spike in airfare on a few routes have been observed. Airlines concerned have been advised to cap the airfare on these ... Read more

Jet Airways to operate additional flights from Trivandrum

Jet Airways has announced that it will operate additional flights from Thiruvananthapuram, since the water clogged airport of Kochi is still not suitable for operating normal flights. “We are committed in our support to the people impacted due to #KeralaFloods and sincerely hope the situation stabilises soon”, tweeted the airline. The additional domestic flights announced are as follows: From August 19th to 26th – Mumbai to Trivandrum at 10:40, Trivandrum to Mumbai at 13:25, Bengaluru to Trivandrum at 10:30, Trivandrum to Bengaluru at 12:35. From August 21st and 22nd – Mumbai to Trivandrum at 13:30 and Trivandrum to Mumbai at ... Read more

Qatar Airways to offer free service for relief aid to Kerala

Qatar Airways Cargo has come forward to help to the flood ridden state of Kerala by announcing to deliver urgent relief aid. The relief aid will be delivered to the affected areas via the airline’s passenger service from Doha to Thiruvananthapuram. “We have received earnest requests from the Indian community residing in Qatar seeking support to transport relief aid to Southern Kerala, where many of their families and relatives are affected by the worst flood in a century,” said Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo, Qatar Airways. Free transportation of relief goods from Doha to Trivandrum will be operated on their ... Read more

Commercial flights resume operation in Kochi from naval airstrip

Commercial flight operations resumed in Kochi  today, 20th August 2018, morning from the INS Garuda naval air station.  An Alliance Air flight, which took off from Bengaluru, was the first flight landed in the naval airstrip.  Alliance Air is a subsidiary of the state-run carrier Air India. Other airlines are also likely to fly to Kochi. A joint team of the centre and the civil aviation ministry gave the go-ahead for the flight operations at the Navy’s air station in Kochi, since the Kochi International Airport has been closed followed by rain and flood in the state. The airport will remain ... Read more

UAE forms a National Emergency Committee to provide aid to Kerala

Photo Courtesy: Khaleej Times President of UAE HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has announced the formation of a national emergency committee to provide relief assistance to people affected by devastating rain and floods in Kerala. According to the President’s instructions, the committee will be chaired by the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) and include representatives from the UAE’s humanitarian organisations. The committee will also seek the help of dignitaries of the Indian resident community. In a series of tweet, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai said that the people of ... Read more

PM announces Rs 500 crores interim aid to Kerala

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced Rs. 500 crores interim aid to Kerala. He was talking in the meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the other ministers of the state at Kochi.  Kerala Governor P Sadasivam, Union Minister KJ Alphons, Chief secretaries of the state aslo were present in the meeting. The southern state of India has been witnessing the worst flood situation in the history and total damage is estimated to be Rs 20,000 crores. The state has been requesting Rs 2,000 crores as immediate financial aid from the center. Earlier, Modi has arrived at Thiruvananthapuram yesterday, 17th ... Read more

Kerala Floods: Vistara launches flights to Trivandrum from Delhi, Chennai

Vistara became the first airline to launch new flights to Trivandrum to evacuate passengers stuck in Kerala due to floods caused by unprecedented rains. “We are operating special flights to TRV (Trivandrum) in view of COK (Kochi) airport closure for the next three days. Flights will operate from DEL and MAA (Chennai). We do not normally operate to TRV, and have made special arrangements,” Vistara’s chief strategy and commercial officer tweeted today. Vistara does not operate to Trivandrum currently and has launched this flight after the airport was shut today due to floods. The operations from Kochi airport, where the airline ... Read more

Cochin Airport to remain close till August 26

The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) has suspended its operations till August 26 owing to heavy rains in the region. All the flights at the airport are being cancelled and has prompted airlines to make special arrangements for the passengers, including alternative flights to nearby airports. Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said that CIAL will not operate till August 26 due to rains and consequently, the Air Navigation Services wing of Airports Authority of India has issued NOTAM (notice to airmen). MoCA and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have also announced measures to address the issues that have ... Read more

Kerala Floods: Yoga ambassadors endorse Kerala for help

While Kerala has been experiencing devastating rain, which it has not been witnessed in recent years, thousands of people come forward from around the world to help the state to overcome the havoc. Salila Sukumaran during Yoga Ambassadors Tour 2018 Salila Sukumaran, a yoga teacher and resident of USA, who has visited Kerala recently as part of the Yoga Ambassadors Tour 2018, has urged  in her facebook post to help Kerala to overcome the disastrous situation. She was describing, how the KSEB people has rescued an elephant, which stranded in the flooding river. We share her facebook post for the ... Read more

Stand with Kerala – Kerala flood relief

Kerala is amidst an unprecedented flood havoc. The calamity has caused immeasurable misery and devastation. Many lives were lost. Hundreds of homes were totally destroyed and many more were damaged. For the first time in history, 27 dams in the State had to be opened. Never before had the State witnessed a calamity of this scale. In the fight against the flood, we have braved the odds. Now it is our duty to help the affected rebuild their lives. The path to recovery can be long and strenuous, but you can make a difference by joining the rebuilding efforts. Contribute ... Read more