Momentous: Passengers who arrived on a flight from Bengaluru at the naval airport in Kochi on Monday. | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat more-in An Alliance Air flight carrying 71 passengers from Bengaluru landed at the naval air station, INS Garuda, in Kochi at 7.15 a.m. on Monday. The terminal operations are being handled by personnel from Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL). Indigo airlines is scheduled to begin operations from the naval airport on Tuesday. Naval officials said the naval air station was readied to receive civilian flights at a short notice. But all things were in place after great efforts to ensure smooth operations. The officials also said the civilian flight operations would not affect the massive relief and rescue operations by the men in uniform. The civilian scheduled flights have been shifted to the naval base temporarily after the airport at Nedumbassery was flooded in the rain. ?220-crore loss CIAL has sustained a loss of around ?220 crore from damage to the runway and equipment. The airport would be reopened at 2 p.m. on August 26. CIAL Managing Director V.J. Kurien said all efforts were being made to ensure flight operations as scheduled. A portion of the boundary wall of the airport had to be demolished to let out the floodwater. The wall was being restored on a war-footing. Around 200 workers have been engaged to clean up the terminal building as the floodwater has receded.

Stay updated with all the Latest Kochi headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.