CHENNAI: Normal flight operations, domestic and international, will resume at Chennai airport from Monday,. Domestic and international flights will start operating, said Airports Authority of India said on Sunday. The announcement came soon after partial operations were resumed at the airport, with five flights taking off almost a week after flooded runways caused the airport to shut down. The flights were handled after the runway and the instrument landing system were declared safe.
The first flight to reach Chennai in a week - an Air India from Delhi - brought just 30 passengers in the afternoon. IndiGo also operated a flight from Delhi to Chennai and back.
Directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) had allowed the airport only a 12-hour window for operations, from 6am to 5.41pm. Flights arrived using visual and instrument guided landing.
"Night operations will not be there on Sunday. More inspections will be done to certify the airport fit for night operation," airport director Deepak Shastri said earlier on Sunday.
An airport official said an Air India flight to Port Blair took off with 150 passengers at 10.50am after Air India's proving flight landed amid a visibility of 2,000 metres in the morning. The proving flight is an aircraft which is flown without passengers as an operational test, in this case to certify whether the airport was fit for use. "Pilots informed us that the runway surface was good," the official added.
"As of now, the airport is open for flights. Air India has started to operate, while Jet Airways has expressed interest in starting services. Domestic arrivals will be handled at the international arrival because the building is yet to be salvaged fully," the offical added.
On Sunday, apart from the flight to Port Blair, Air India operated two others in the afternoon, to Hyderabad and Delhi, while Jet Airways operated one to Bengaluru.
"The schedule of other airlines is awaited," a DGCA official said. Officials of DGCA and the civil aviation ministry will inspect the airport on Monday. The airport had to be shut down after the runway and taxiways got flooded at night on December 1. and the radar and instrument landing system were damaged.
Operations at the city airport are limping back to normalcy with domestic flights expected to resume in one to two days. On Sunday, around three flights were handled till afternoon after the runway and the instrument landing system were declared safe.
07/12/15 The Times Of India
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The first flight to reach Chennai in a week - an Air India from Delhi - brought just 30 passengers in the afternoon. IndiGo also operated a flight from Delhi to Chennai and back.
Directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) had allowed the airport only a 12-hour window for operations, from 6am to 5.41pm. Flights arrived using visual and instrument guided landing.
"Night operations will not be there on Sunday. More inspections will be done to certify the airport fit for night operation," airport director Deepak Shastri said earlier on Sunday.
An airport official said an Air India flight to Port Blair took off with 150 passengers at 10.50am after Air India's proving flight landed amid a visibility of 2,000 metres in the morning. The proving flight is an aircraft which is flown without passengers as an operational test, in this case to certify whether the airport was fit for use. "Pilots informed us that the runway surface was good," the official added.
"As of now, the airport is open for flights. Air India has started to operate, while Jet Airways has expressed interest in starting services. Domestic arrivals will be handled at the international arrival because the building is yet to be salvaged fully," the offical added.
On Sunday, apart from the flight to Port Blair, Air India operated two others in the afternoon, to Hyderabad and Delhi, while Jet Airways operated one to Bengaluru.
"The schedule of other airlines is awaited," a DGCA official said. Officials of DGCA and the civil aviation ministry will inspect the airport on Monday. The airport had to be shut down after the runway and taxiways got flooded at night on December 1. and the radar and instrument landing system were damaged.
Operations at the city airport are limping back to normalcy with domestic flights expected to resume in one to two days. On Sunday, around three flights were handled till afternoon after the runway and the instrument landing system were declared safe.
07/12/15 The Times Of India
